Black Sea oil refinery blaze extinguished after Ukrainian drone strike

A fire at state controlled oil giant Rosneft’s largest oil refinery on the Black Sea has been extinguished, authorities confirmed on Thursday.

The fire broke out at the major refinery in the city of Tuapse in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region on Wednesday night, following a Ukrainian drone strike. While regional authorities gave no cause for the fire, a Ukrainian official told Bloomberg that it had been caused by drones.

Tuapse Governor Sergei Boyko said that no one had been harmed and that the fire had been a localised one in a vacuum unit.

Sochi Airport placed temporary restrictions on inbound flights overnight, redirecting or delaying flights in accordance with its emergency plan, Telegram channel SHOT reported.

For several weeks Ukrainian forces have been targeting key Russian infrastructure in drone strikes. Rosneft was likely targeted due to the company’s close ties to the Kremlin, and CEO Oleg Sechin’s closeness to Russian President Vladimir Putin.