Ukraine's drone attack on Tuapse terminal sparks oil spill and fires

An oil spill has been detected in the Black Sea following a Ukrainian drone strike on an oil terminal in the Russian port city of Tuapse, according to a BBC report that published satellite imagery showing a slick extending approximately 3.6 kilometres from the terminal into the sea.

The attack occurred overnight on November 2, when residents of Russia’s Krasnodar region reported hearing multiple explosions. Regional authorities later confirmed that an oil terminal and two foreign vessels were damaged.

Eyewitness videos showed at least three major fires — two at the deep-water berthing complex of LLC RN-Maritime Terminal Tuapse and another at the oil loading berth near the Southern breakwater.

Reuters noted that the Tuapse port hosts the Tuapse Black Sea oil terminal and an oil refinery operated by Rosneft, Russia’s largest oil company. The facility, which has a refining capacity of around 240,000 barrels per day, produces naphtha, fuel oil, vacuum gas oil, and high-sulphur diesel, supplying mainly China, Malaysia, Singapore, and Türkiye. The refinery has been targeted several times by Ukrainian drones since the start of the year. Reuters said it was unable to confirm whether the terminal remained operational after the latest strike.

In response to the overnight attacks, Russia’s Defence Ministry claimed its air defence systems destroyed 283 Ukrainian drones across several regions. Kyiv, however, maintains that such drone strikes on Russian energy infrastructure are retaliatory, citing Russia’s sustained bombardment of Ukraine’s power grid. Moscow insists its strikes on energy facilities are legitimate military actions, arguing that civilian infrastructure contributes to Ukraine’s war effort.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials reported that Russia’s latest air attack on the night of November 2 left nearly 60,000 people without electricity in the frontline Zaporizhzhia region and killed two civilians in the southern Odesa region.

In Russia’s Tuapse municipal district, debris from downed drones was found in five settlements, damaging windows in several homes and apartments. No casualties were reported, though the local railway station sustained minor damage.

The attacks also prompted temporary shutdowns at numerous Russian airports, mainly in the country’s southern and western regions, according to the federal aviation agency Rosaviatsiya, which said the closures were introduced for safety reasons.

By Tamilla Hasanova