Ukrainian drones hit oil facility in southern Russia

A Ukrainian drone attack on the night of March 18-19 damaged an oil facility in the south of Russia, authorities reported, as attacks on energy infrastructure have persisted despite ceasefire talks.

According to a Telegram statement from the Krasnodar regional administration, Ukrainian drones were intercepted over the Russia's Kavkazsky district, setting fire to an oil facility in the village of Kavkazskaya.

A separate statement from Russia's Ministry of Defense confirmed the attack, reporting that three drones targeted the site and forced the facility to be taken offline.

The defense ministry said the oil facility supported the transshipment of crude oil from railway cars to the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, Kazakhstan's main crude export pipeline.

However, CPC distanced itself from such a claim, with a spokesperson saying the targeted facility was not part of the CPC system, and CPC only received crude oil "via pipes".

Drones previously targeted the CPC pipeline on Feb. 17 but avoided significant disruption after a pumping station was hit.

The CPC pipeline transports crude mainly from fields in Western Kazakhstan, comprising around 90% of flows, plus fields in Russia's portion of the north Caspian Sea operated by Lukoil.

Depot damage

According to reports from the Ministry of Defense and Krasnodar regional authority, the attack on the Kavkazsky oil facility struck pipeline infrastructure between its storage tanks and forced one to be depressurized.

Leaking oil from a damaged tank caused the fire to expand to 1,700 sq m. Around 1 pm local time, firefighting efforts were still ongoing, the Ministry of Defense said.

Russian defense forces shot down 57 Ukrainian drones March 18-19 in response to a cross-regional offensive, the ministry said, adding it had intercepted 35 drones over the Kursk region, 13 over Oryol and seven over the Sea of Azov.

Persistent attacks on energy infrastructure have added friction to talks over a US-brokered ceasefire agreement ahead of new talks expected in Saudi Arabia.

Ceasefire politics

On March 19, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a 30-day halt to attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure after a call with US President Donald Trump, while Ukrainian President Zelenskyy previously expressed that he would be "ready to accept" a full ceasefire.

Russia has said that new Ukrainian attacks threaten to frustrate the peace process, while Ukraine has said that sweeping attacks by Moscow have undermined its commitment to hang fire.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said March 19 that Russia has continued to target Ukrainian energy infrastructure in its latest attacks, with reports that 150 drones were launched including against energy sites.

"It is these types of nighttime attacks by Russia that destroy our energy sector, our infrastructure, and the normal life of Ukrainians," Zelensky wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The Ministry of Defense said seven drones were already in the air when the ceasefire was ordered, but said six of them were shot down after instructions to neutralize the attack.