Ukrainian Drone Strikes Oil Depot Near Sochi, Triggers Massive Explosion
Russian authorities have attributed a huge blaze at an oil storage facility near the Black Sea resort city of Sochi to a drone strike allegedly carried out by Ukraine. Flights from Sochi airport have been suspended as a precautionary measure.
As per Krasnodar Region Governor Veniamin Kondratyev, wreckage from the drone fell on a fuel tank, sparking the fire. A total of 127 fire personnel have been deployed to bring the situation under control.
Meanwhile, at least seven civilians have been reportedly injured in the Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv, which has faced repeated shelling from Russian forces. Ukraine’s State Emergency Service stated that three of the injured have been hospitalised for treatment.
Russian officials claim that the Sochi oil facility strike is part of a wider drone offensive launched by Ukraine over the weekend. Several energy and military installations were reportedly targeted in the southern Russian cities of Ryazan, Penza, and Voronezh. The Voronezh governor confirmed that four individuals were injured in one such drone attack.
In parallel developments, local authorities reported that a Russian missile attack has destroyed homes and vital civilian infrastructure in Mykolaiv, situated in southern Ukraine.
According to Russia’s defence ministry, its air defence systems successfully intercepted 93 Ukrainian drones overnight, including 60 over the Black Sea region alone.
Ukraine’s air force, however, claimed that Russia had launched 83 drones, or possibly 76 drones and 7 missiles, during the night. Ukrainian forces managed to shoot down 61 of these aerial targets, but 16 drones and six missiles successfully struck eight locations.
This escalation follows a deadly week in Ukraine, especially the Thursday missile strike on Kyiv, which resulted in the death of at least 31 civilians.
Ukrainian officials revealed that over 300 drones and eight cruise missiles were fired during the assault, making it one of the most fatal attacks on the Ukrainian capital since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
In response to the strikes, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged the international community to impose tighter sanctions on Russia, while former US President Donald Trump denounced Moscow’s actions and hinted that fresh sanctions were being considered.
Earlier in July, Trump stated that President Putin would have 50 days to end the conflict or face punitive tariffs on Russian oil and other exports. On Monday, Trump revised the timeline, giving a new deadline of 10 to 12 days, which would now expire on 8 August.
