Fire erupts at Tuapse oil refinery following drone attack on Russia

Russian authorities and Telegram channels report.

Krasnodar region of the Russian Federation

The head of Russia's Krasnodar region, Veniamin Kondratyev, said that drones attacked an oil complex in Tuapse at night, causing one of the gasoline tanks to catch fire. According to him, the fire area is over 1,000 square meters. Preliminary, there were no casualties. 

The head of the Tuapse district, Sergei Boyko, said that 16 fire brigades are extinguishing the oil refinery in Tuapse, SHOT channel reports. The channel writes that the fire was allegedly caused by the fall of drone debris. Firefighters are trying to localize the fire to prevent it from spreading to neighboring tanks.

Sochi airport activated the "Carpet" plan, delaying flights, ASTRA reports. Restrictions were later lifted.

Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council's commentary

The head of the Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Andrii Kovalenko, noted that this is not the first attack on the Tuapse refinery.

According to him, it is one of the largest in Russia and has a refining capacity of about 12 million tons of oil per year. The refinery specializes in primary oil refining, producing straight-run gasoline, diesel fuel and fuel oil, much of which is exported.

“This plant is of strategic importance for the Russian army, as it provides fuel to the Black Sea Fleet and military infrastructure in the south of the country. It is part of the logistics chain of fuel supply for military equipment and aviation,” Kovalenko explained.

Moscow city and the region

ASTRA reported that residents of the Moscow region reported explosions, in particular in Balashikha, where smoke was visible in the city after the sounds of explosions. In Odintsovo and Shchelkovo, explosions were also heard, as if air defense was working.

According to the channel, residents of Moscow report an explosion in a residential building in the Dorogomilovo district. The Cheka-OGPU channel writes that a piece of the roof of a house on Kievskaya Street in Moscow was torn off - UAVs allegedly fell on the roof visor of the residential building. It is noted that another drone fell on a house on Lesteva Street. Eyewitnesses also reported explosions in the area of Kutuzovsky Prospekt in Moscow.

According to the Cheka-OGPU, a drone was allegedly shot down in Troitsk near the village of Rosinter-2, crashing into a private house.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that Russian air defense allegedly repelled an attack by four drones flying toward Moscow. According to him, “emergency services are working at the site of the wreckage.”

Vnukovo Airport in the Moscow region and the airport in Kaluga are temporarily not accepting or sending flights, Rosaviation reported. The restrictions were later lifted.

The head of the Moscow region, Andrey Vorobyov, reported that two drones were allegedly shot down over Balashikha - the wreckage of one of them fell on a construction site, Izmailovo - in the area of Demin Lug Street, and another UAV was allegedly destroyed in the area of Svobody Street in the Zaliznychny neighborhood. The third UAV was allegedly shot down in the Pivdenna Bytza neighborhood in Leninske: the wreckage fell on a multi-story building under construction, which is not yet occupied.

According to preliminary information, there were no casualties.

• On the evening of Wednesday, March 12, the Russians claimed a drone attack on Voronezh and Rostov regions: they say there are fires at infrastructure and industrial facilities.