Kyiv's drones struck Rosneft's Tuapse refinery and Black Sea export terminal overnight on 15-16 April, an OSINT source confirmed. The refinery and the export pier form a single Rosneft production complex on Russia's Black Sea coast, about 550 km southeast of the war zone in Ukraine. The strike is at least the ninth on the facility since Russia's full-scale invasion began.
The overnight attack follows Ukraine's strike on the Krymskaya pumping station on Novorossiysk's supply pipeline on 9 April and repeated strikes on the Sheskharis loading terminal there.
Satellite and OSINT confirm fires across three refinery zones
Telegram channel Exilenova+ began sharing local eyewitness videos of the strike and fires in Tuapse from 2:45 a.m. Residents reported multiple explosions and hits to Rosneft's fuel tanks, with locals saying at least three tanks caught fire.
OSINT Telegram channel Falcon Insight confirmed at 4:34 a.m. that NASA FIRMS satellite monitoring had flagged thermal anomalies at three zones of the facility, which the channel identified as the oil loading pier, the oil and petroleum products tank farm, and the on-site gas turbine power plant. The channel called it a confirmed successful attack by Ukraine's forces.
Russian news Telegram channel Astra reported the refinery kept burning hours later. Astra's OSINT analyst confirmed at least three fire spots from eyewitness footage — two on the refinery grounds and one on the sea surface near the coast. The analyst noted video footage alone could not identify what was ablaze in the water. NASA FIRMS independently confirmed the fires, Astra noted, adding a caveat that satellite fire signatures can shift and may not reflect exact locations.
Ukraine hit Crimea’s key fuel hub and struck deep into Luhansk Oblast — while clearing more air defenses across the occupied south
Governor cites emergency regime — omits the refinery
Krasnodar Krai governor Veniamin Kondratyev claimed an emergency regime in the Tuapse district after the strike. He stated that drone debris killed 2 and injured 7. Kondratyev's statement made no mention of Rosneft's refinery or the export terminal.
He also claimed drone "debris" struck a "civilian" vessel in Novorossiysk, injuring one person. Krasnodar airport introduced temporary restrictions on aircraft takeoffs and landings as drones remained overhead.
The target: where Russia refines crude and ships it from the same site
The Tuapse Oil Refinery operates as a Rosneft facility under RN-Tuapse Oil Refinery LLC. It forms a single production complex with the company's marine terminal, RN-Marine Terminal Tuapse LLC — meaning crude processing and Black Sea export loading happen at the same site. The facility processes up to 12 million tons of crude annually and is among Russia's ten largest refineries.
Previous Ukrainian strikes forced the complex to halt production multiple times. Ukraine struck Tuapse at least eight times before this attack, with the December 2025 strike hitting the AVT-12 crude distillation unit. Previous shutdowns at the facility lasted months before operations resumed.
