Fires broke out at fuel storage sites and near a port across several Russian oblasts and occupied Crimea on the night of 18 April, according to local officials, who attributed the blazes to Ukrainian drones.
Ukraine's drone campaign has repeatedly struck Russian military assets and logistics infrastructure in Russian-occupied territories since the start of the full-scale invasion. Attacks on fuel storage facilities on the peninsula have reduced available reserves, putting pressure on Russian military logistics along the southern front. Each air defense system knocked out across the occupied territories leaves remaining military infrastructure more exposed to subsequent strikes.
Leningrad Oblast: 27 drones downed, fire at Vysotsk port
Leningrad Oblast Governor Alexander Drozdenko reported that air defenses shot down 27 Ukrainian drones over the oblast during the night. According to the governor, no casualties or damage have been recorded so far. However, he confirmed that a fire broke out in the area of the Vysotsk port, and that emergency services were working to extinguish it.
Occupied Sevastopol: fuel tank fire in Kozacha Bukhta
In occupied Crimea, Russian-installed Sevastopol governor Mikhail Razvozhayev reported a fire on a tank containing fuel residues in the area of the Kozacha Bukhta microdistrict, which he said occurred "through a downed UAV."
Razvozhayev claimed the area of the fire was small and that no one was injured. He also stated that the affected tank contained no fuel reserves, and therefore the blaze "will in no way affect the fuel supply situation in Sevastopol."
Video footage of the aftermath of the strike on Sevastopol began circulating online, reportedly showing smoke rising from the tank.
Krasnodar Krai and Samara Oblast
The Operational Headquarters of Krasnodar Krai also reported a fire at an oil depot, stating that no fatalities or injuries had occurred.
Videos from Samara Oblast showed a strike on the Novokuybyshevsk oil refinery. Samara Oblast Governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev reported that a drone had fallen "in the immediate vicinity of a maternity hospital" in Novokuybyshevsk. His statement made no mention of the oil depot.
