Novorossiysk port on fire again as Ukrainian strike campaign on Russian oil export infrastructure continues
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Explosions were reported overnight on April 6 in the southern Russian port city of Novorossiysk, with local residents saying drones attacked an oil terminal and damaged a residential building.
The attack is the latest in a string of Ukrainian long-range strikes on Russia's most important oil terminals on the Baltic and Black Sea coasts in recent weeks, as Kyiv looks to restrict the windfall gained by Russia from soaring world oil prices.
The strike was later confirmed by Ukraine's General Staff and a source in the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).
Six of the terminal's seven oil-loading stands, used to load and unload tankers, were damaged, the source told the Kyiv Independent. The attack also hit key ground infrastructure, including the pipeline control unit and the oil metering station.
Large fires broke out at the impact sites, and the full extent of the damage is still being assessed, the General Staff said.
In addition to the oil terminal, Ukrainian forces also struck a Be-12 amphibious anti-submarine aircraft near the village of Kacha in Russian-occupied Crimea, the General Staff added.
The Sheskharis oil terminal was struck by Ukrainian drones, the independent Russian Telegram news channel Astra reported, citing eyewitness reports from the area.
The site is a major oil export terminal that serves as the endpoint for pipelines run by Russia's state-run Transneft, the world's largest oil pipeline company.
The most intense burning was taking place at the terminal's first pier, and the site's second pier was also struck, independent outlet Exilenova Plus reported.
The Kyiv Independent cannot independently assess the damage to the facility.
Early in the morning of April 6, Krasnodar Governor Veniamin Kondratyev confirmed the attack, reporting that eight people were injured in Novorossiysk, including two children, as six apartment buildings and two houses were damaged.
Other cities in the region, including Anapa, Gelendzhik, and Sochi, were on high alert, Kondratyev said.
Fires were also reported in another district of the Black Sea coastal city, according to Astra.
Maps published by NASA's Fire Information for Resource Management System show active fires recorded at the port between 1:57 a.m. and 3:35 a.m. local time.
Novorossiysk has become a key base for Russia's Black Sea Fleet after many ships were relocated following repeated Ukrainian strikes on occupied Crimea.
In addition, the Sheskharis oil terminal is one of the main outlets of Russian sea-based oil exports, along with the Ust-Luga and Primorsk facilities on the Baltic Sea, which Ukrainian forces have struck multiple times over the past two weeks.
Ukraine previously struck the terminal on March 2, damaging infrastructure at the port, as well as military ships and air defense assets, a source in the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) told the Kyiv Independent.
Six of the seven oil-filling loading arms at the Sheskharis terminal were damaged in the March 2 attack alongside strikes on Russian military assets in and around the port.
Ukraine regularly strikes military infrastructure deep within Russia and occupied territories in an effort to diminish Moscow's capacity to continue waging war on Ukraine.
