Ukraine hits major Russian oil refinery in Krasnodar Krai, media, officials report
on Google
Editor's Note: This is a developing story.
Ukrainian drones struck the Tuapse Oil Refinery in southern Russia's Krasnodar Krai during an overnight attack on April 16, according to eyewitness and official reports.
The Tuapse Oil Refinery, a Rosneft facility, is one of the 10 largest oil refineries in Russia.
Tuapse residents reported explosions in the area amid Ukrainian drone strikes. Locals said that the drones hit fuel tanks at the Tuapse refinery, the Telegram channel Exilenova-Plus reported.
Open-source analysis conducted by the Russian opposition Telegram news channel Astra concluded that the Tuapse Oil Refinery was on fire after the drone attack.
Krasnodar Krai Governor Veniamin Kondratyev also reported that an "enterprise in the seaport area" was hit by drone debris, though he did not mention the refinery by name. The governor also reported civilian casualties and damage to residential buildings.
The attack struck residential buildings in Tuapse, killing two children, ages 5 and 14, Kondratyev said. Two other adults were reported injured. All educational institutions in the city have canceled classes for April 16.
The Kyiv Independent could not verify the reports at the time of publication.
The port city of Tuapse lies around 75 kilometers northwest of the major city of Sochi and regularly comes under attack by Ukrainian drones.
The Tuapse Oil Refinery has a processing capacity of about 12 million tons of petroleum products per year. The facility plays a key role in supplying the Russian military, producing automobile gasoline, diesel fuel, fuel oil, and raw materials for petrochemicals.
The refinery has been targeted in previous Ukrainian strikes, some of which caused the plant to temporarily suspend operations.
Ukraine regularly attacks military and industrial targets in Russia and Russian-occupied territories with long-range weapons. In the last six months, Ukrainian forces have stepped up their campaign against oil and gas infrastructure in Russia.
Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi reported on April 15 that Ukraine hit 76 Russian industrial targets — including 15 oil refineries — in March alone.
