A Ukrainian drone attack on an oil depot in the Russian city of Sochi has sparked a significant fire, prompting a response from emergency services. More than 120 firefighters are currently working to extinguish the blaze at the depot, as reported by regional Governor Veniamin Kondratyev via the Telegram messaging app early on Sunday.
The incident occurred in the Krasnodar region, located along the Black Sea, where a fuel tank with a capacity of 2,000 cubic meters (approximately 70,000 cubic feet) caught fire. The Russian state news agency RIA cited emergency officials regarding the scale of the blaze. In a related report, the Russian defense ministry indicated that its air defense units successfully destroyed 93 Ukrainian drones overnight, including one drone over the Krasnodar region and another 60 drones over the Black Sea.
To ensure air safety, Rosaviatsia, Russia’s civil aviation authority, temporarily halted flights at Sochi’s airport. Operations resumed later, with flights restarting at 02:00 GMT on Sunday (10 p.m. ET on Saturday). As of now, Reuters has been unable to independently verify these reports, and there has been no immediate response from Ukrainian officials regarding the incident.
The drone attack, described by Governor Kondratyev as occurring in the Adler district of Sochi, represents the latest instance of Ukraine targeting infrastructure within Russia, which it considers vital to Moscow’s military efforts. Notably, a previous Ukrainian drone strike in the Adler district resulted in the death of a woman late last month. While such attacks on Sochi, which hosted the 2014 Olympic Winter Games, have been relatively rare since the beginning of the conflict in February 2022, the region is home to the Ilsky refinery, one of the largest in southern Russia and a frequent target for Ukrainian forces.
In a separate incident on the same day, the governor of the Voronezh region in southern Russia reported that four individuals sustained injuries from a Ukrainian drone strike that ignited several fires. Concurrently, the Russian military administration announced a missile attack on Kyiv, further escalating tensions in the ongoing conflict. The Russian defense ministry also stated that its units had destroyed 18 Ukrainian drones over the Voronezh region, which shares a border with Ukraine.
The ongoing exchanges of drone strikes and missile attacks highlight the intensifying hostilities between Ukraine and Russia as both sides continue to engage in military actions that have far-reaching implications for the region.