Ukrainian Drones Strike Major Russian Oil Export Hub on Black Sea

Ukrainian drones hit an oil terminal at the Russian port of Novorossiysk, setting the depot on fire, according to a report by Russian outlet Astra.

Ukrainian outlet Exilenova Plus reported on Telegram that port infrastructure in Novorossiysk is on fire.

An analysis by Astra from videos posted by Exilenova and eyewitnesses on social media suggests that it is the Transneft Sheskharis loading terminal on the east side of the bay that is on fire.

This is not the first attack on the Sheskharis terminal—it was hit in November last year, along with Russian energy export infrastructure at the nearby Tuapse and Temryuk ports.

Novorossiysk is a critical oil hub and loading terminal for a large part of Russia’s oil exports from the Black Sea. It is also close to a terminal operated by the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) which operates the pipeline and loadings of crude oil from Kazakhstan’s huge oilfields.

In recent months, a series of drone strikes and severe winter storms in the Black Sea have disrupted oil exports from the Novorossiysk and CPC loading terminals. Loadings of the Russian grades Urals and Siberian Light, as well as Kazakhstan Export Blend Crude Oil (KEBCO), have been delayed by weeks.

The port of Novorossiysk on the Black Sea suspended oil exports for a few days in the middle of November, following a major Ukrainian attack on the port.

At the end of November, the CPC terminal was hit by another attack, and although loadings continue, cargoes have been pushed by several days.

Since the second half of 2025, Ukraine has intensified attacks on Russia’s oil refineries, depots, and export terminals in an escalation of the war on energy infrastructure, which has also seen Russia targeting Ukraine’s gas-producing facilities and gas and power distribution networks as temperatures drop.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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