Anti-drone nets keep failing: Russia’s fuel tanks burn from Azov to Moscow

Ukrainian drones set fires across Russia's oil infrastructure overnight and into midday on 10 July, monitoring channels and Russian officials reported. The Ilsky refinery in Krasnodar Krai, a port oil terminal in Taganrog, and a fuel depot in Azov burned, while fires were reported near refineries in Moscow and Tatarstan. 

Ilsky refinery burns for the fifth time this year

Drones struck the Ilsky refinery in the Severskaya settlement of Krasnodar Krai, the regional operational headquarters claimed, attributing the fire to "falling debris" of downed drones. Ukrainian channels published footage of the blaze. Drone fragments also fell in a courtyard of a detached house and at a local enterprise, the headquarters claimed, reporting no casualties.

Ukraine's General Staff confirmed the previous strike on 2 June.

Taganrog: the port's oil terminal ablaze, residents evacuated

The attack on Taganrog lasted all night, local residents reported. Fires broke out at the port, where the Kurganneftprodukt terminal — annual transshipment volume of 1.2 million tons — burned, Ukrainian channels reported. The facility reloads oil products from rail onto sea vessels in the Azov Sea. Astra's OSINT analysis identified the burning site as the Kurganneftprodukt fuel depot.

City mayor Svetlana Kambulova claimed an evacuation of residents whose homes fell into the emergency zone, TASS reported. Rostov Oblast Governor Yuri Slyusar claimed firefighters were extinguishing the port fire, with drone debris damaging a detached house and an administrative building's roof.

A fire also broke out near the Taganrog Aviation College, which trains specialists for Rostov Oblast's aviation and machine-building industries, Petro Andriushchenko of the Center for the Study of Occupation reported.

Drones damaged at least two tankers in Taganrog Bay the night before, and a tanker and a fuel reservoir burned there after strikes on 30 May. Ukraine's drone forces destroyed an Iskander launcher and two Tu-142 planes at the city's military airfield in late May.

Town of Azov: fuel tanks burn behind their protective nets

A series of explosions hit the city of Azov near Rostov-on-Don, where the largest fire engulfed an oil depot, Exilenova+ reported with OSINT analysts confirming the blaze. The depot sits by the Azov sea port and stores and transships light oil products. Ukrainian channels identified the site preliminarily as the DonTerminal depot. Footage shows Russia had covered the reservoirs with anti-drone nets — the strike hit them regardless on the morning of 10 July.

The drones also struck the Azov Optical-Mechanical Plant, which makes sights, rangefinders, thermal imagers, and fire-control systems for Russian aircraft, armor, and warships. The plant belongs to Russia's Tactical Missiles Corporation and was targeted by drones in July 2025.

Slyusar claimed about 35 drones were downed over Taganrog, Azov, and two districts, with fires at two oil-product storage sites in Azov and an administrative building in the village of Kagalnik. An Azov resident wrote in the comments that the city's sirens sounded only after the fires had started. Eyewitness footage suggests Ukraine's Defense Forces used domestically made FP-1 or FP-2 kamikaze drones for the Rostov Oblast strikes, as the targets sit relatively close to the front line.

Moscow: drones through the night, a fire near the Kapotnya refinery

Moscow came under drone attack through the night of 10 July, with Domodedovo airport temporarily halting flights, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin claimed. Sobyanin's posts counted six drones downed overnight, four more toward morning, and five by midday — 19 claimed in total. Russian Telegram channels reported similar restrictions at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo airport.

By midday, Exilenova+ shared a video showing a tank farm with one tank burning and reported a fire in the area of the Kapotnya refinery in Moscow, with details being clarified. Astra reported a declared missile danger in Moscow Oblast alongside the unconfirmed Kapotnya fire, with authorities urging residents to stay away from windows. 

Nizhnekamsk smokes again

Exilenova+ also reported a fresh fire in the area of the Nizhnekamsk refinery in Tatarstan, with details pending. Ukrainian drones struck the Nizhnekamsk refining cluster two days earlier.

Russia's Defense Ministry claimed air defenses intercepted 376 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones overnight across Belgorod, Bryansk, Kaluga, Kursk, Leningrad, Novgorod, Pskov, Rostov, Smolensk, and Tver oblasts, the Moscow region, Krasnodar Krai, occupied Crimea, and the Azov Sea.