Russian authorities said drones struck infrastructure in the Black Sea port of Tuapse overnight, causing fires at a port berth and at the Tuapse oil refinery, an export-oriented facility owned by state oil company Rosneft.

The operational headquarters of Russia’s Krasnodar region said the attack hit one of the berths in the maritime port and equipment at the refinery. It said a fire at the berth was extinguished quickly, while a separate blaze at the refinery was put out after burning across about 300 square metres.

Residents reported explosions around midnight and a large fire near an oil storage area, according to posts and videos circulated on social media and cited by the independent outlet Astra. Russian officials later confirmed that drones had struck the port area and the refinery site.

Reuters, citing the Krasnodar operational headquarters, reported that two people were injured, and that the strike also damaged five homes. It said windows were broken in apartment blocks and a private house, and that a port berth and refinery equipment were damaged. Russian authorities did not provide further detail on whether refinery operations were disrupted.

Ukraine did not immediately comment on the reported incident. Both sides have regularly reported drone and missile attacks in the Black Sea region and deep inside each other’s territory, with claims often difficult to independently verify in the hours after an event.

Why Tuapse matters

Tuapse is one of Russia’s key Black Sea outlets for oil products. The Tuapse refinery is closely linked to export logistics through the port, and has been described by Rosneft as a major downstream asset undergoing staged modernisation. Rosneft’s own materials list a primary processing unit with capacity of 12 million tonnes a year.

Separate industry reporting has put the refinery’s processing capacity at about 240,000 barrels per day, and has described it as export-oriented, supplying products including naphtha, fuel oil and diesel to overseas markets.

Tuapse has been hit in earlier attacks. In November the fuel exports through the port were halted after drone strikes, the refinery stopped processing. That episode underlined the port’s role in moving refined products from southern Russia to external buyers.

Wider pattern of strikes on energy infrastructure

Ukraine has expanded the use of long-range drones against Russian oil and gas facilities during the war, describing such strikes as intended to constrain Russian revenue and complicate military logistics. In recent months Reuters has reported Ukrainian claims of drone operations against fuel storage and processing sites, including strikes reported by a Ukrainian security service official on oil product tanks at Temryuk and a gas plant in Orenburg.

Earlier Reuters reporting on the broader campaign said Ukrainian drone attacks between January and March 2025 reduced available Russian refining capacity by several million tonnes, with Tuapse listed among affected sites in that period.

For Russia, the Black Sea coast is a critical corridor for both commercial exports and military logistics, and it has also faced repeated Ukrainian strikes on port and terminal infrastructure. The Tuapse area has featured in reports of attacks involving aerial drones and, at times, sea drones, with Russian authorities claiming interdictions in previous incidents.

On the same day as the Tuapse report, separate briefings and media reports described Russian drone attacks on Ukrainian Black Sea ports and infrastructure, reflecting continuing reciprocal strikes as the war enters another year.