Port hit, terminal burning: New Novorossiysk strike adds pressure on Russia’s Black Sea oil logistics

Last night, Ukrainian drones hit a Black Sea oil terminal in southern Russia's Krasnodar Krai, according to local sources. The Sheskharis oil-loading facility is located in Novorossiysk about 350-400 km southeast of the frontline in Ukraine.

Novorossiysk oil terminal hit

A fire broke out overnight on 2 March at the Sheskharis oil-loading terminal in Russia’s Black Sea port of Novorossiysk after a Ukrainian drone attack, Militarnyi reported. The outlet cited OSINT analysis by the Russian Telegram channel Astra, which reviewed eyewitness footage and local chat messages describing explosions and a blaze in the port area.

Novorossiysk Mayor Andrei Kravchenko also confirmed an attack on the city, according to Ukrainian reporting. Local residents began posting about explosions on 1 March around 22:50, followed shortly by videos showing a port-area fire.

Militarnyi also reported that parts of occupied Crimea lost power during an air-raid alert on 1 March, with outages reported in Sevastopol and water-supply disruptions in Feodosiia, citing the Telegram channel ChP/Crimea.  Crimean occupation authorities blamed the outage on an "accident" and "technological disruption" without acknowledging possible drone strikes on the energy system.

Russia’s Defense Ministry later claimed it had downed 35 Ukrainian drones over Crimea and the Black and Azov seas.

Not the first attack on the facility

Novorossiysk has repeatedly appeared in reporting on Ukraine’s long-range strikes on Russia’s Black Sea oil logistics. In mid-November 2025, oil loadings at Novorossiysk were reported to have been suspended for two days after a Ukrainian strike and then resumed.The Sheskharis facility came under fire again later the same month.