Ukrainian drones attacked the Russian Black Sea port of Tuapse again overnight into April 20, with the strikes setting fire to storage tanks at a Rosneft-owned refinery that is part of the city’s marine terminal, as indicated by statements from local officials and footage from eyewitnesses. The previous attack on the port came just four days earlier, when fires from storage tanks at the same refinery sent smoke plumes stretching for 250 kilometers over the Black Sea.
Krasnodar Region governor Veniamin Kondratyev reported that one person was killed in the attack at the seaport and another was injured. A fire broke out inside the port, while drone debris also damaged buildings in the city: windows were blown out at a school, kindergarten, museum, church, and residential building, and a gas pipe was damaged. News agency Interfax reported that classes were canceled in Tuapse schools after the attack, and the Krasnodar Region prosecutor’s office said transport infrastructure in the port had been damaged.
The independent outlet Astra used eyewitness videos to determine that the fire was located specifically in the tank farm of the Tuapse refinery. Footage published online showed a large blaze and thick black smoke rising above the industrial zone.
The Russian Defense Ministry said 112 Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight over Russia and the waters of the Black and Azov seas. The ministry did not specify how many others reached targets in Tuapse.
The previous attack on Tuapse took place overnight into April 16, killing two people, including a 14-year-old girl, and leading equipment at Rosneft’s oil refinery and marine terminal to catch fire. The blaze was extinguished only on April 19. An analysis of NASA satellite data and eyewitness videos showed that the smoke plume from the blaze stretched for approximately 250 kilometers (over 150 miles) over the Black Sea.
With Russia’s port infrastructure increasingly coming under attack over the past several weeks, the country’s seaborne oil exports have already begun to decline. According to the Center for Price Indexes, they fell 16.1% in the week from April 6 to April 12, to 291,000 tons — the lowest level since the summer of 2024.
The decline is linked to drone strikes on the ports of Ust-Luga, Primorsk, and Tuapse, where fires and damage to storage tanks have been recorded. Novorossiysk was hit hardest, with shipments there falling by more than 70%.
At the beginning of April, Reuters sources said the attacks had taken about 20% of Russia’s export capacity offline, roughly 1 million barrels per day. Analysts say the damage could force Russian oil companies to cut production.
