Russia's battered Tuapse oil refinery attacked by Ukrainian drones for 4th time as fires ravage site

Prefer on Google by Abbey Fenbert Black smoke engulfs the sky over the Russian town of Tuapse in Krasnodar Krai amid a reported Ukrainian drone attack overnight on May 1, 2026. (Exilenova-Plus / Telegram) Editor's Note: This is a developing story and is being updated. Ukrainian forces on May 1 reportedly launched yet another attack on the Tuapse oil refinery in southern Russia's Krasnodar Krai, where fires have been blazing for days amid a series of devastating strikes. The reported strike marks the fourth attack against the facility in the past two weeks. Ukraine previously confirmed attacks on Tuapse on April 16 , 20 , and 28 . Following the third attack, a state of emergency was declared in the municipal district. Photos and videos of a fourth attack on the refinery and marine terminal emerged on social media in the early hours of May 1, with residents reporting explosions in the area, according to the Telegram monitoring channel Exilenova-Plus. Local residents told the Russian Telegram channel Shot that air defense units were active over Tuapse, and that at least 10 drones had already been downed. Explosions and active gunfire were reported and restrictions were introduced at regional airports. The Kyiv Independent could not verify these claims at the time of publication. Russian officials have not yet commented on the reported attack. 0:00 / 1× Video allegedly shows an attack against the Tuapse oil refinery in Russia's Krasnodar Krai overnight on May 1, 2026. (Exilenova-Plus / Telegram) The Tuapse oil refinery, located on the Black Sea Coast in Krasnodar Krai , processes about 12 million tons of oil annually. Ukraine has waged a relentless strike campaign against the facility over the past two weeks, threatening the resort town at the start of the tourist season. After the first strike, local emergency services managed to contain the fire and even fully extinguish it at the marine terminal, but it continued to burn at storage tank sites, intensifying with each subsequent attack. The refinery was most recently struck on April 28, prolonging the multi-day fires . Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry claimed on April 29 that open burning had been extinguished in Tuapse. As a result of Ukraine's first three attacks on the refinery, 24 storage tanks were destroyed and four more damaged, while a crude oil processing facility was also hit. The environmental fallout — including airborne petroleum byproducts and oil spills on city streets — has made the once attractive tourist destination unsafe for visitors, though Russian President Vladimir Putin has downplayed the threat to Tuapse. Ukrainian forces have ramped up their assault on Russia's oil industry, which both fuels the Russian military and funds the Kremlin's war chest. According to data compiled by Bloomberg, Ukraine's strikes on Russian oil infrastructure reached a four-month high in April, with at least 21 attacks on refineries, pipelines, and oil assets at sea recorded. The attacks reduced Russia's average refinery capacity to 4.69 million barrels per day, the lowest level since December 2009, Bloomberg reported. Amid the uptick in Ukrainian drone attacks, Russia scaled back its Victory Day celebrations in Moscow and Putin proposed a temporary truce during the May 9 holiday. Ukraine has responded with its own proposal for a long-term ceasefire .