Before Ukrainian drones targeted the Tuapse oil refinery early Tuesday, teams were already present at the site along Russia’s Black Sea coast, working to clean up oil from a previous assault that had created a slick on the water and caused a rain of black droplets.
This refinery, owned by the Russian oil corporation Rosneft, has faced three attacks within the last fortnight.
Following the most recent strike, Ukraine’s special forces announced on Telegram that the nation had achieved a “hat trick,” while Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that Kyiv was worsening the global energy supply crisis.
Putin instructed the country’s emergency minister to travel to the region to oversee firefighting operations. Dark, toxic smoke lingered in the air as part of the consequences of Ukraine’s intensified attacks on Russian energy facilities, including export terminals.
During a time of record oil price fluctuations, Ukraine has been escalating this tactic and has persisted with the strikes despite pleas from allies for Kyiv to reduce its actions amid the energy crisis triggered by the conflict with Iran.
In this still image taken from a video released by the Governor of Russia’s Krasnodar region, crews inspect the coastline and dig up any earth that appears to be contaminated by oil. (Governor of Russia’s Krasnodar Region Veniamin Kondratyev/Reuters)
Timothy Ash, an associate fellow with the Russia and Eurasia program at Chatham House in London, stated, “There is a newfound confidence among the Ukrainians.”
He added, “It seems the Ukrainians have realized that we also possess economic leverage… this could significantly alter the situation for us.”
A series of drone assaults
While the world has been captivated by the blockades in the Strait of Hormuz and the sharp rise in oil prices following the conflict between the U.S. and Israel against Iran, Ukraine has been attempting to diminish Russia’s ability to profit from its oil exports.
As per an analysis by Reuters, numerous refineries have been struck in recent weeks, alongside additional ports and tankers.
Russia has been capitalizing on soaring prices, partly due to Washington’s choice to temporarily lift sanctions against Moscow, permitting the sale of Russian oil and petroleum products already loaded onto ships and at sea.
Ash, who engaged with CBC News during a virtual panel hosted by Chatham House on April 21, believes Ukraine’s current offensive is influenced by Washington’s own military actions against Iran.
The effective shutdown of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has caused the ‘biggest energy security threat in history,’ says Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency. Ryan Cummings of the Stanford Institute for Economy Policymaking says the closure so far is the equivalent of a billion barrels of oil missing from the economy.
For months, he noted, the U.S. has been signaling to Kyiv to cease operations against Russian refineries due to the potential for a global oil supply disruption.
However, with the International Energy Agency stating that the conflict in the Middle East has resulted in the largest supply disruption in history, Ash asserts that Ukraine is now opting for a “no-holds-barred” strategy.
At the end of March, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy indicated that certain allies had requested Kyiv to minimize its assaults on Russia’s energy sector, stating that such reductions would occur only when Russia halts its strikes on Ukraine.
Black Sea exports
The Tuapse refinery, located 900 kilometers southeast of Kyiv, has been out of operation since April 16 due to drone damage at the port, which has obstructed oil shipments for export.
The refinery has a daily output capacity of 240,000 barrels and produces naphtha, diesel, fuel oil, and vacuum gasoil.
People walk past an office building of Rosneft, one of Russia’s major oil companies, in Moscow in 2025. (Ramil Sitdikov/Reuters)
After another significant refinery in Novorossiysk suffered extensive damage from a drone strike earlier in April, Rosneft started redirecting some of its oil supplies to Tuapse, which has now been attacked three times in April.
Following the latest attack, over 30 residents near the refinery were relocated to a local school, and more than 200 firefighters were dispatched to combat the fire. Russian media reported that the dense smoke could be visible as far as Sochi, located 80 kilometers south along the Black Sea coast.
Oleksandr Kharchenko, director of the Kyiv-based Energy Industry Research Center and an adviser to the Ukrainian government, stated, “Our goal is to minimize [Russia’s] physical capacity to send oil to vessels and transport it outside their ports.”
He emphasized, “Our primary objective here is to restrict Russia’s capability to fund the war.”
Global energy supply
Kharchenko shared with CBC News via Zoom from Kyiv that Tuapse accounts for roughly 12 percent of Russia’s overall fuel export capability, and although Russia will strive to repair it, each successful strike from Ukraine increases the expenses for Moscow to export its energy.
He noted that the attacks disrupt Russia’s export timelines and decrease the number of crews willing to risk visiting these ports.
A Panamanian-flagged vessel carrying Russian crude oil is moored off the coast of the Philippines on April 1. The country purchased its first shipment of Russian oil in five years because of the global supply crunch (Ezra Acayan/Getty Images)
Kharchenko believes that Ukraine’s approach has not shifted due to the global oil disruption, asserting that the recent successful strikes are partly a result of Ukraine’s increased drone launches and improved targeting expertise.
Nevertheless, he argues that the energy crisis further justifies the need for Kyiv to intensify its efforts.
“Prices have surged independent of our involvement. It was triggered by the war in Iran initiated by the U.S.,” Kharchenko noted.
“However, for Ukraine, this has posed additional challenges as [Moscow] continues to profit from the same volume of oil it exports.”