Fire at Russia's Tuapse oil refinery: Smoke seen from dozens of kilometers away, footage
Photo: oil storage tanks are still burning in Tuapse (t.me/mchs_official)
Unidentified drones attacked the port and oil depot in Tuapse, where oil storage tanks caught fire. Smoke from the blaze is visible from dozens of kilometers away, according to ASTRA and Radio Svoboda.
ASTRA reports that the smoke plume from the fire at the Tuapse oil refinery is visible from dozens of kilometers away. The released video was likely filmed from the Lazarevskoye area (25 km from the plant), while a horizontal timelapse appears to have been taken from the direction of Nebug (10 km from the refinery).
It is noted that the smoke from the fire is even visible from a camera at the Zhemchuzhina hotel in Sochi — located 78 km from the Tuapse refinery. Another screenshot was taken from a camera near the settlement of Vardane, which is 54 km from the refinery.
Radio Svoboda published a satellite image of the fire at the Tuapse oil refinery, taken around midday local time.
Unidentified drones attacked the port and oil depot in #Tuapse, where oil storage tanks caught fire. Smoke from the blaze is visible from dozens of kilometers away, according to ASTRA and Radio Svoboda. pic.twitter.com/6NZW8Nuxlx
— RBC-Ukraine (@NewsUkraineRBC) April 16, 2026
The Tuapse oil refinery is among the ten largest in Russia and is export-oriented, with a refining capacity of around 12 million tons of oil products per year.
The plant is part of Russia’s energy rear and is involved in supplying the country’s armed forces. It produces various grades of automotive gasoline, straight-run gasoline (a feedstock for petrochemicals), diesel fuel, and fuel oil.
Strikes on the Tuapse oil refinery
On the night of April 16, air defense systems were active in Russia’s Krasnodar region, with reports of explosions and fires in Tuapse at the port and oil depot. Social media reported that at least two oil storage tanks at the Tuapse refinery were burning.
Local authorities confirmed a drone attack on Tuapse. It is also known that numerous debris fragments fell on the premises of facilities in the area of the seaport.
Before this, Ukraine’s Defense Forces struck the Tuapse refinery on the night of December 31. At that time, a primary oil refining unit and integrated deep-processing facilities were damaged.
