A significant fire erupted at the Sheskharis transshipment complex, a key oil terminal in the Black Sea port city of Novorossiysk, after a long-range drone strike by Ukrainian forces on Monday night. Local officials and open-source intelligence confirmed the incident.
Residents of Novorossiysk, situated in Russia’s Krasnodar region, reported hearing around 50 explosions during the early hours of Monday, followed by thick smoke rising from the facility. Satellite imagery from NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS) detected multiple intense heat signatures consistent with a large-scale industrial fire at the site.
The attack specifically targeted the Grushovaya industrial tank farm, the central component of the Sheskharis complex, which is operated by Chernomortransneft, a subsidiary of Russia’s state-owned pipeline company Transneft. With a storage capacity exceeding 1.2 million cubic meters, Grushovaya is the largest oil storage facility in the Caucasus region.
This terminal serves as the critical endpoint for major oil pipelines in western Russia. Crude oil and petroleum products stored here are transferred through a complex system of pipelines and tunnels directly to marine berths, where they are loaded onto international tankers.
Local authorities in Krasnodar Krai confirmed the fire and reported that over 130 firefighters and nearly 40 specialized vehicles were deployed to combat the blaze. Russian officials stated there were no casualties but did not provide details on the extent of the damage to the infrastructure.
In a significant development, this strike is part of an escalating campaign by Kyiv, which employs domestically produced long-range unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to target Moscow’s fuel infrastructure, aiming to weaken the economic foundations supporting Russia’s war effort.
By persistently attacking key logistics hubs, refineries, and maritime terminals, Ukraine seeks to disrupt military supply chains and diminish Russia’s lucrative Black Sea oil exports. Monitoring data shows that the Sheskharis complex has been a high-priority target, having endured previous drone attacks in March, April, and late May.
Monday’s operation coincided with a broader surge in overnight drone strikes, which reportedly also targeted electrical substations in Russian-occupied Mariupol and other logistics facilities in western Russia.
