Ukrainian drones attack Russia’s Black Sea port of Tuapse for second time in four days, setting marine terminal ablaze

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.