Russia's Novorossiysk oil facility blaze follows reports of explosions

A major fire erupted on late on 28 April 2025 at an oil tank containing diesel fuel in the industrial zone of Kirillovka village, located in the city of Novorossiysk in Russia’s Krasnodar Krai, according to Novorossiysk Mayor Andrey Kravchenko. The blaze spread to nearby passenger vehicles and storage containers, he claimed.

The Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil processing facilities are part of the ongoing efforts to disrupt Russian supply lines and logistics supporting their occupation forces. Throughout 2024, Ukraine regularly struck oil depots and refineries in Russia, significantly escalating long-range drone attacks on Russian fuel facilities in early 2025. Recently, Ukraine refrained from major strikes on Russian fuel facilities during a month-long energy strike ceasefire, which expired earlier this month.

Kravchenko claimed that the fire was extinguished later that evening, and dismantling and soaking operations were ongoing. He stated,

“The cause of the fire will be determined after extinguishment and subsequent measures.”

Eyewitnesses reported hearing several explosions during the fire. In one of the videos shared online, a local resident commented,

“Oh, another explosion. What’s blowing up there?”

Russian Telegram channel Kuban 24 reported that several “pops/pats” – a euphemism commonly used in Russian media for explosions occurring in Russia – were heard at the site. In one video, an eyewitness commented about hearing three blasts.

Although Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed shooting down or intercepting 91 Ukrainian drones overnight, it did not specifically report any drone activity over Krasnodar Krai.

Earlier, Russian monitoring channels had flagged potential Neptune missile threats, though no official confirmation of Ukraine’s involvement in the incident has been issued by Ukraine’s General Staff so far.

The mayor’s report indicated the fire involved a “tsisterna” – a rail tank car, while some eyewitnesses claimed the blaze occurred at an oil depot. It remains unclear what exactly caught fire, as the train unloading area is situated adjacent to the oil depot’s fuel tanks.

Train unloading area next to fuel tanks at the oil depot in Novorossiysk’s Kirillovka, southern Russia. Source: Google Maps

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