Ukrainian drone attack sparks huge fire at key Russian oil terminal

A Ukrainian drone attack ignited a fire at another Russian oil terminal overnight, local officials in Russia’s Krasnodar region confirmed on Saturday, marking what appears to be the latest strike against Moscow’s vital oil industry.

Authorities in the city of Novorossiysk reported that falling drone debris caused the blaze at an oil terminal, resulting in injuries to two individuals.

Officials did not immediately name the specific facility.

However, Russia’s Astra news outlet identified the target as the Sheskharis oil terminal and depot, a key terminus for state-controlled Transneft’s main oil pipelines in the region. Images shared by Astra, though unverified, reportedly showed smoke billowing above the site. Ukraine has not yet commented on the incident.

The attack underscores Ukraine’s expanding mid- and long-range strike capabilities, utilising domestically developed drone and missile technology in its defence against Russia’s four-year invasion. Strikes on Russian oil assets, which are crucial for funding the conflict, have become an increasingly frequent occurrence.

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Meanwhile, the death toll from a Ukrainian drone strike on a college dormitory building in Starobilsk, a city within Ukraine’s Russia-occupied Luhansk region, rose to 11 following the overnight attack into Friday, according to Moscow-installed officials.

Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned the dormitory attack as a "crime" on Friday, instructing the military to prepare proposals for retaliation. He asserted that no military or law enforcement facilities were located near the college.

At an emergency UN Security Council meeting, convened at Russia’s request, Ukrainian Ambassador Melnyk Andrii refuted accusations of war crimes, dismissing them as a "pure propaganda show" and maintaining that the May 22 operations "exclusively targeted the Russian war machine."

Last week, Putin said he will only meet Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky once a lasting peace deal is agreed as he claimed the conflict is “coming to an end”.

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Speaking after the annual Victory Day parade in Moscow, which marks the defeat of Nazi Germany in the Second World War, on Saturday (9 May), Putin was asked if Slovak prime minister Robert Fico had brought him a message from Zelensky.

The Russian leader responded: “Mr Fico told me about his meeting [with Zelensky] but there was no particular message. I simply heard once again that the Ukrainian side, Mr Zelensky, is ready to hold a personal meeting. Yes, I heard that. But this is not the first time we have heard such statements.”

Later, speaking of the war he began over four years ago, Putin said how he thinks the “matter is coming to an end”.

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