On May 23, drones caused a fire at an oil terminal in Russia's Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. The attack damaged multiple technical and administrative buildings and affected private homes nearby in Anapa. At least one person was injured by falling drone debris, though some reports say two were hurt. Fires broke out in oil storage tanks and the fuel quay area [1, 2, 3, 4].
Novorossiysk is a major Russian oil export hub, handling about one-fifth of the country's oil exports via the Black Sea [2, 4]. The terminal plays a significant role in Russia’s energy logistics.
The following day, May 24, Ukraine’s SBU security service reported a drone strike on an oil pumping dispatch station near Kameshkovo in Russia’s Vladimir region. The attack caused an 800 square meter fire. The site reportedly threatens fuel supplies to Moscow and its three main airports: Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo, and Vnukovo [5, 6, 7].
Alexander Avdeyev, governor of Vladimir region, confirmed the fire was extinguished but described the affected site only as "infrastructure," without confirming the oil-related nature of the damage or attributing it directly to drones [5, 7].
The drone raids form part of an escalation by Ukraine targeting Russian energy infrastructure deep inside Russian territory. The goal is to disrupt fuel supplies and undermine economic support for Russia’s war effort [3, 4].
At Novorossiysk, conflicting reports appear on the number of injured; some sources state one injured person, others say two. Similarly, the Vladimir region fire's exact nature and cause remain partially unclear, with Ukrainian officials attributing it to a drone strike on oil infrastructure and local authorities providing more cautious descriptions [1, 2, 3, 4, 7].
Russian authorities have responded by extinguishing the fires and assessing the damage at both sites. The impact on Russia’s oil export capacity and domestic fuel supplies is under evaluation. Follow-up reports may clarify the extent of operational disruptions.
The attacks mark the latest significant drone strike against Russia’s energy systems in May 2026, escalating Ukraine’s campaign to weaken Russian energy logistics.
