Drones attack port and oil refinery in Russia's Tuapse
Photo: Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations (Russian media)
The Krasnodar Krai region in Russia has once again come under attack by unidentified drones. Locals are reporting shelling of the port in Tuapse, and there are also reports of an attack on an oil refinery, according to OSINT networks and Russian media.
Read also: Ukraine's presidential office reacts to calls of allies to halt strikes on Russian oil depots
Telegram channels are posting photos and videos of drones arriving in Tuapse at the specified targets, in which the sound of drones and air defense systems can be heard, as well as explosions from collisions with targets.
The footage then shows a fire breaking out after the attack, with thick plumes of smoke visible above the site.
"Our subscribers are reporting a series of explosions in the sky over the Krasnodar Krai. Explosions are rocking Tuapse, Gelendzhik, and Anapa. Residents report several dozen explosions after midnight—air defense is most active in the Tuapse area. Currently, there is no information about casualties or damage," reported one of the Russian public groups.
At 4:42 a.m., another video of the fire in Tuapse has appeared online, showing the port and oil refinery under Russian attack. The footage shows numerous pockets of flame that will not be easy to extinguish.
Veniamin Kondratyev, governor of the Krasnodar Krai, has already confirmed the attack on Tuapse on Monday night.
"Tuapse suffered another massive drone attack tonight... A fire broke out at the seaport," he writes.
Drones attack port and oil refinery in Russia's Tuapse pic.twitter.com/8uI0b4i1Vb
— RBC-Ukraine (@NewsUkraineRBC) April 20, 2026
Just a few days ago, strikes were recorded at the port and oil depot in Tuapse, where oil tanks caught fire. At that time, at least two oil tanks at the Tuapse Oil Refinery were on fire.
April 16 marks one of the largest attacks on the Tuapse Oil Refinery; the fire at the plant could not be extinguished for a long time.
Drone attacks on the Krasnodar Krai and Tuapse in particular occur regularly; the Ukrainian Armed Forces have already claimed responsibility for the damage at the port and the oil refinery.
Last December, an attack was carried out on the oil refinery in Tuapse—at that time, both the port and the refinery itself were on fire. Before that, in November, drones struck the oil loading infrastructure of a Russian federal-level commercial seaport located on the Black Sea coast in Tuapse Bay.
Strikes on the Tuapse oil refinery and port had been recorded several times before this, throughout 2024–2025.
The Russian budget is losing millions of dollars every month due to Ukrainian drone attacks on oil facilities, causing the Russian economy to be in a state of recession.
