Fire at Oil Terminal in Russia’s Novorossiysk; Officials Blame ‘Fallen Drone Debris’

A fire broke out at an oil terminal in Russia’s Black Sea port city of Novorossiysk, with regional officials on Saturday blaming “falling drone debris.” Several technical and administrative buildings caught fire, while emergency services worked at the scene. Ukrainian media reported that the fire affected the Sheskharis terminal, one of southern Russia’s largest oil-loading facilities.

A fire broke out at an oil terminal in Russia’s Black Sea port city of Novorossiysk, regional officials said early Saturday.

Russian officials claimed the fire at the oil depot was caused by “falling drone debris,” a formulation Moscow has frequently used after drone strikes on energy infrastructure.

The operational headquarters of Russia’s Krasnodar region said several technical and administrative buildings caught fire after the attack.

Emergency services were working at the scene.

Unofficial Russian and Ukrainian Telegram channels posted videos they said showed a fire in the port area.

Novorossiysk is one of Russia’s key Black Sea oil export hubs. Ukrainian media reported that the fire affected the Sheskharis oil terminal, one of the largest oil-loading facilities in southern Russia.

The Sheskharis transshipment complex is part of Chernomortransneft, a subsidiary of Russia’s state pipeline operator Transneft. It receives, stores and loads oil and petroleum products onto tankers for export through the Black Sea.