KYIV — A Ukrainian drone strike ignited a fire at a Russian oil depot near Sochi, prompting a major emergency response and briefly halting air traffic at the city’s airport. Russian authorities confirmed the incident, blaming Kyiv for a wave of drone attacks targeting multiple regions over the weekend. Krasnodar Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said a drone hit a fuel tank at the Tuapse oil depot in the early hours of Sunday. A total of 127 firefighters were deployed to contain the blaze. Sochi Mayor Andrei Prokhorunin later confirmed the fire had been extinguished.
The nearby Sochi International Airport, located near Russia’s Black Sea coastline, suspended flights for a short period during the emergency.
In response, Russian forces launched airstrikes on targets in southern Ukraine. A key bridge in Kherson, already damaged by previous attacks, was struck again on Sunday morning. The strike killed one man and triggered renewed evacuation orders for Korabel Island, where around 1,800 residents remain.
Kherson regional head Oleksandr Prokudin confirmed the bridge known as the Ostrivsky bridge had suffered further destruction, cutting a vital link between the city center and Korabel district.
In neighboring Mykolaiv, Ukrainian officials said seven civilians were injured in a separate Russian strike that damaged homes and infrastructure.
Russian forces also bombarded additional areas across the southern Donetsk region and Kherson oblast on Saturday. Ukrainian authorities reported seven deaths from those earlier attacks.
Russia’s defense ministry reported intercepting 93 Ukrainian drones overnight, with 60 intercepted over the Black Sea area. It claimed Ukrainian drones also targeted sites in Ryazan, Penza, and Voronezh. Officials in Voronezh said four people were injured in one of the strikes.
Ukraine did not issue a formal statement regarding the drone attacks. However, Ukrainian forces have regularly targeted oil facilities, radar stations, and fuel depots inside Russia in retaliation for Russia’s ongoing destruction of Ukraine’s energy grid.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 83 strikes overnight including 76 drones and seven missiles with 61 intercepted. Sixteen drones and six missiles reportedly struck targets across eight Ukrainian locations.
The latest attacks follow a deadly week for Ukraine. A large-scale assault on Kyiv last Thursday killed at least 31 people. Ukrainian officials said that over 300 drones and eight cruise missiles were launched in that attack alone marking one of the heaviest bombardments of the capital since the war began in February 2022.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has called on international allies to increase sanctions on Moscow. “There must be consequences,” he said in a statement, urging world leaders to isolate Russia’s economy further.
In the United States, President Donald Trump condemned Russia’s actions. In a public address, he said, “This behavior cannot go unanswered,” and hinted that additional economic sanctions would be imposed. Trump previously gave Russia a deadline to end the war or face severe tariffs, a timeline he recently revised, pushing the deadline to August 8.
The repeated strikes on oil infrastructure and bridges underscore both sides’ focus on crippling each other’s logistical capabilities. Ukrainian drone raids on Russian energy sites have aimed to disrupt military supply lines and pressure the Kremlin’s war machine. Moscow’s airstrikes have consistently targeted Ukraine’s power grid, roads, and bridges, particularly in the south and east.
With civilians increasingly caught in the crossfire, the pressure is growing on international actors to intervene diplomatically or apply new economic measures. As Ukraine continues to defend its territory with limited resources, the cycle of strikes and retaliation shows no signs of slowing.
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