Huge Russian oil depot engulfed in flames for 5 days

Russian officials said Ukraine had recently launched a series of attacks on its oil and gas facilities, causing a fire at the Kavkazskaya oil terminal in the Krasnodar region. Earlier, Ukrainian drones had attacked the Tuapse refinery, also in Krasnodar. The attacks came as the sides agreed not to attack each other’s energy facilities under a US-brokered deal.

Ukraine said Russia’s persistent attacks on its critical infrastructure had not stopped, while the Kremlin said it had paused attacks on energy facilities but continued to attack other targets. Kiev and Moscow also accused each other of attacking a gas facility in the town of Sudzha in Kursk early last week.

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Video of fire at oil depot in Krasnodar on the night of March 19 (source: X/SKC)

The Krasnodar Krai operating center said in a statement on Sunday that oil products stored at a section of the facility at Kavkazskaya had spilled from a "burning tank."

Russia’s independent Astra TV channel shared two clips on Sunday showing a new column of fire spiraling into the sky. Nearly 500 people are still working to extinguish the fire, which still covers an area of ​​about 2,000 square meters, according to Russian officials.

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The fire has been raging and has not been extinguished in recent days (source: X/RFU)

Russian state media blamed the fire on “falling debris” from the downed drone. State media reported that three Ukrainian drones were used in last night’s attack.

Oil depot in the village of Kavkazskaya in the Krasnodar region, Russia before the attack. Photo: GI

According to Russia's TASS news agency, an oil tank leaked before the petroleum products caught fire. With five tanks at the Kavkazskaya site, the facility has the capacity to store up to 100,000 tons of fuel, Astra said.

Huy Hoang (according to TASS, Astra, NewsWeek)