Ukrainian drones struck the Sheskharis oil terminal in Novorossiysk overnight on April 5-6, igniting fires at two piers, open-source analysts and local Russian officials confirmed.
OSINT channel Astra identified the Sheskharis transshipment complex as the primary target. The site is the endpoint for pipelines run by Transneft, Russia’s state-run pipeline monopoly.
Russian authorities attributed the damage to drone debris rather than direct hits; fires at two industrial sites were quickly extinguished. Debris also struck a residential building in the city’s Yuzhny district, injuring eight. Ukraine has not officially confirmed the strike.
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It was the second major hit on Sheskharis in five weeks. A March 2 operation confirmed by Ukraine’s Security Service damaged six of the terminal’s seven oil-filling loading arms. Ukrainian drone commander Robert “Madyar” Brovdi also confirmed separate April 5 strikes on a Lukoil refinery in Kstovo and an oil terminal in Leningrad Oblast.
Related: Ukraine Strikes Russia’s Largest Baltic Oil Port in Escalating Energy War
The campaign continues despite allied pressure to stop. Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s military intelligence, told Bloomberg that partners have asked Kyiv to pause strikes on Russian oil infrastructure as the US-Israeli war against Iran drives up global fuel prices.
As of late March, roughly 40% of Russia’s oil export capacity — about 2 million barrels per day — was offline. Novorossiysk handles approximately 700,000 barrels per day, a significant share but well short of the “more than half” of Russian oil shipments some have claimed.
Kyiv considers the facilities legitimate military targets, arguing they directly fund Moscow’s war effort.
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