Ukraine launched drone attacks at major Tuapse Oil Refinery in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region near the Black Sea coast on April 16.
Throughout the night, powerful blasts echoed through the area, after which large flames could be seen shooting up from the refinery site. People living in surrounding neighborhoods reported chaotic and fearful scenes as emergency crews hurried in to bring the situation under control. Being one of Russia’s top ten largest oil refineries, Tuapse has a refining capacity of nearly 12 million tons oil products annually. The facility forms part of Russia’s domestic energy backbone and plays a role in supporting military supply chains. Its output includes multiple types of motor gasoline, straight-run gasoline used as a petrochemical input, diesel, and heavy fuel oil.
According to ASTRA Telegram channel, the smoke column produced by the blaze at the Tuapse oil refinery can be seen from many tens of kilometers away. One of the published videos was most likely recorded near Lazarevskoye, about 25 km from the facility, while a horizontal timelapse seems to have been captured from the Nebug area, roughly 10 km from the site.
Reports also indicate that the smoke is visible even from a camera at the Zhemchuzhina hotel in Sochi, situated 78 km from the refinery. An additional image was reportedly taken using a camera positioned near the settlement of Vardane, approximately 54 km from the refinery.
The overnight attack came amid the growing number of strikes on Russia’s energy infrastructure.
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