|
Ukrainian forces struck the Tuapse Oil Refinery overnight on April 27 to 28 — the third strike against the refinery in April so far. The Ukrainian General Staff reported that Ukrainian forces conducted a drone strike against the Tuapse Oil Refinery in Krasnodar Krai overnight, causing a fire. The Ukrainian General Staff noted that Ukraine is still conducting the battle damage assessment (BDA) for the strike. Geolocated satellite footage published on April 28 shows multiple fires and smoke plumes at the Tuapse Oil depot and Refinery. A Ukrainian open-source intelligence (OSINT) project assessed that the Ukrainian April 27 to 28 strikes damaged at least four oil storage tanks at the Tuapse refinery. NASA Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS) data for April 28 shows heat anomalies in the northern part of the Tuapse oil refinery, and the BBC Russian Service reported that the previous Ukrainian strikes had not affected this part of the refinery. Krasnodar Krai authorities claimed that fallen drone debris caused the fire at the refinery. Ukrainian forces struck the Tuapse Oil Refinery on the nights of April 15 to 16 and April 19 to 20, and Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces (USF) reported that these two Ukrainian strikes destroyed 24 oil storage tanks and damaged four additional tanks. Russian opposition outlet Astra noted that the Tuapse Oil Refinery had suspended operations at its only refining unit, which has an annual refining capacity of 12 million tons per year, following the April 19 to 20 strikes. Ukrainian forces have been conducting a larger strike campaign against Russian military, oil, and port infrastructure in Krasnodar Krai in April 2026, including against the Sheskharis oil terminal and an Admiral Grigorovich-class frigate near the port of Novorossiysk on April 5 to 6, the oil pumping station in Krymsk on April 8 to 9 and April 10 to 11, the Naftoexport port and oil depot in Tuapse on April 15 to 16, the oil pumping station in Tikhoretsk on April 17 to 18, and the seaport in Yeysk on April 18 to 19.
The April 27 to 28 strikes compelled the Kremlin to acknowledge the impacts of the Ukrainian strikes against the Tuapse Oil Refinery. Krasnodar Krai authorities declared a state of emergency in Tuapse Municipal Okrug as a result of the Ukrainian strikes on April 27 to 28 and noted that the strike also caused an oil spill. Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Russian Civil Defense, Emergencies, and Disaster Relief Minister Alexander Kurenkov in response to the strikes on April 28 and instructed Kurenkov to travel to Tuapse to oversee the Russian response. Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov acknowledged the Tuapse strike but stated that all details about the struck objects are classified. Peskov criticized Ukrainian strikes against Russian oil infrastructure as further destabilizing global energy markets. The Kremlin does not usually respond to Ukrainian strikes against Russian oil infrastructure, but the impact of Ukraine’s strikes was apparently so significant that it prompted personal responses from Putin and Peskov on April 28. Ukraine has been escalating its strike campaign against Russian oil infrastructure as Russia has sought to exploit a global energy crisis to augment profits from its energy exports to fund its war in Ukraine. Ukrainian forces will likely continue to exploit the large attack surface of Russia’s deep rear and overstretched Russian air defenses to launch more frequent and larger strikes against Russian oil infrastructure and military assets, supported by increased Ukrainian domestic drone production.
|
