Ukrainian drones attacked Russian Tuapse for the third time in two weeks on the night of April 28, where a marine oil terminal and refinery are located. ASTRA and the Ukrainian monitoring channel Exilenova+ reported this. The strike was the third in the past two weeks. Initial consequences of the attack. Media report that the tank farm was attacked, and a fire broke out. Local residents told Ostorozhno, Novosti that the drone attack lasted several hours. The local operational headquarters claim there were no casualties. 'The night was terrible. Now huge black columns of smoke are rising over the city. It smells of burning. People are mostly walking without respirators or with medical masks. They say they've gotten used to the smell and don't notice it: this is very dangerous,' writes Kedr. Evacuation of residents. Regional Governor Veniamin Kondratyev reported that 'for the safety of residents in houses located near the refinery, an evacuation is currently underway.' Rospotrebnadzor urged city residents to limit their time outdoors, not open windows, clean more often, rinse their nose, eyes, and throat, not smoke, drink more, and use masks and respirators. Water outage. Later, the head of the Tuapse district, Sergey Boyko, reported that water supply in the city was suspended due to the failure of the power supply system of the water pumping station at the burning refinery. State of Emergency. In the evening, the Kuban operational headquarters announced the introduction of a regional state of emergency in the Tuapse municipal district. Head of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations Alexander Kurenkov arrived in the Krasnodar Territory to coordinate work on Vladimir Putin's orders. Together with Governor Kondratyev, he surveyed the Black Sea waters by helicopter. Context. Before that, Ukrainian drones had attacked Tuapse twice before - on April 16 and 20. After the first strikes, a fire broke out at the sea terminal, and oil products entered the river. The fire was extinguished on April 19. On the same day, the regional operational headquarters reported the containment of the spill. After the strikes on the night of April 20, a second fire occurred at the sea terminal. Oil products also entered the Black Sea, forming an oil slick with an area of 10,000 square meters. The fire was only extinguished on April 24. 'Oil rains' occurred in the city. Rospotrebnadzor recommended residents to stay home, but schools in Tuapse did not cancel classes. Refinery Status. Reuters sources say the Tuapse refinery has been completely shut down since April 16, which is also confirmed by sources for Novaya-Yevropa. VesselFinder data also indicates this, according to which the port has not received any vessels in the last 24 hours. Military Significance. Ukraine is using a strategy of economic pressure on Russia, trying to deprive the Russian authorities of the financial means to continue the war, explained Ilya Volzhsky, military observer for Novaya-Yevropa: 'Now, when oil prices have soared, it is especially important for Ukraine to maximally deprive the Russian Federation of its oil export infrastructure. Each destroyed refinery means hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars not received. Which will not go towards the production of weapons and the payment of military personnel.' Experts estimate the number of oil reservoirs in the European part of the Russian Federation to be approximately 2.5 thousand units. About 300 of them have already been destroyed or damaged, said Mikhail Krutikhin, a specialist in the oil and gas market. Due to this, sea export volumes have significantly decreased. 'If the infrastructure is destroyed, production will have to be reduced and wells will have to be conserved - it will be extremely difficult to resume their operation after that,' adds Volzhsky. Why is Ukraine striking Tuapse specifically? It is likely that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are using a proven method of selecting a target for attack, knowing the vulnerabilities of this facility. Ukrainian drones have attacked Tuapse more than once, and apparently, their operators know the route well. Moreover, as experience has shown, this refinery is difficult to extinguish, and the fire has already led to severe economic, social, and informational consequences for Russia. In addition, recently, anti-aircraft systems themselves have often become targets of drone attacks. The Russian army does not have many air defense systems left, says Volzhsky. And they are not enough to reliably cover the sky over the entire European part of the Russian Federation. How much money is Russia losing? According to estimates by Denis Morokhin, economic observer for Novaya-Yevropa, the Tuapse refinery produces 240,000 barrels of oil products per day - this is approximately 4.4% of the total production in the Russian Federation. The total export of oil products from Russia in 2025 was about 2.3 million barrels per day, which means that about 10-11% of the total export passes through the port of Tuapse. This is quite sensitive for Rosneft's revenues, but it will likely be offset by a jump in global hydrocarbon prices, notes the expert.
