Ukraine confirms drone strike on fuel depot at Russia's Sochi airport
Ukrainian drones successfully struck an airport fuel depot in the Russian resort city of Sochi on Aug. 3, Ukraine's General Staff reported.
"A strong fire broke out on the territory of the facility. It is known that the military aviation of the Russian invaders was also stationed at the airport," it said in a statement on Aug. 4.
Reports of the strike first emerged in the early hours of Aug. 3, with Russia’s state-owned RIA Novosti reporting that a 2,000-cubic-meter (approximately 70,000-cubic-foot) fuel tank was on fire.
Videos posted to social media purported to show the view from a plane landing at the airport with the burning depot clearly visible.
Today, passengers of planes landing at Sochi (Adler) airport saw this, the war on their doorstep. pic.twitter.com/KVWFUSdP4v
— Shaun Pinner (@olddog100ua) August 3, 2025
Russia’s civil aviation agency, Rosaviatsia, later said flights at Sochi Airport were suspended "to ensure air safety."
Russian Telegram channel Crimean Wind reported on Aug. 3 that Sochi Airport imposed fuel restrictions due to the attack on the oil reservoir, forcing some flights departing from Sochi Airport to make additional landings at alternate airfields to refuel.
The drone strike is a part of Ukraine's continued campaign to target Russian energy infrastructure seen as critical to Moscow’s war effort.
Sochi, which hosted the 2014 Winter Olympics, has rarely been targeted during the war, though a previous Ukrainian drone attack in the Adler district late last month reportedly killed a woman, according to Russian authorities.
