Russian Rostov Oblast’s oil depot on fire after Ukraine’s drone attack (video)

Ukraine’s Defense Forces launched drone strikes overnight on 29 November, targeting critical Russian oil infrastructure, including the Atlas oil depot in Rostov Oblast and an oil refinery near Tuapse in Krasnodar Krai, according to reports on Russian Telegram channels. The Ukrainian General Staff confirmed the Rostov attack.

This year, Ukraine has intensified its long-range drone attacks against the military and fuel facilities within Russia, significantly disrupting fuel and ammunition supplies crucial for the Russian military. Many of such attacks targeted Russian bomb warehouses at airbases, ammunition depots, fuel processing and storage facilities deep inside Russia. Meanwhile, Russia continues its relentless nightly drone, missile, and bomb attacks on Ukraine, with strikes intensifying in recent months.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine confirmed the strike on the Atlas oil depot in Rostov Oblast, which resulted in two fires on the site. Atlas is part of Russia’s military-industrial complex and plays a key role in supplying fuel to Russian troops. Ukrainian officials noted this depot had been previously targeted during a similar drone strike this summer.

Rostov oil depot attack

The Russian city of Kamensk-Shakhtinsky, near which the Atlas pol depot is located, lies 180 km behind the lines, east of the occupied part of Ukraine’s Luhansk Oblast.

The Atlas depot, operated by Russia’s Federal State Reserves Agency in the Southern Federal District, specializes in supplying oil products to the Russian Armed Forces. In August 2020, it was a key site for joint exercises between Russia’s Defense Ministry and Rosrezerv during the Caucasus-2020 drills. These exercises demonstrated oil delivery methods for military needs, including transportation by trucks, rail, and pipelines.

Today, videos shared on Russian Telegram channels showed a large fire engulfing the Atlas depot near the city of Kamensk-Shakhtinsky.

Rostov Oblast Governor Yuriy Slyusar, claimed that a swarm of 30 drones was responsible for the attack, but these were allegedly intercepted or suppressed in the region’s northwest. However, video evidence contradicts his account.

Later, Slyusar reported a “large fire at an industrial facility in the Kamensky district”.

A previous attack on the Atlas oil depot occurred on 28 August, when drones targeted the facility in Kamensky District, Rostov Oblast, Russia, resulting in a fire.

Tuapse refinery attack

Simultaneously, Tuapse in Krasnodar Krai faced explosions during the same night. Tuapse, a Russian port city on the eastern Black Sea coast, lies about 530 km from the frontline and hosts much of the remaining Russian Black Sea Fleet, which relocated there after withdrawing from Sevastopol in occupied Crimea.

News Telegram channels, including Astra and Exilenova+, shared footage showing smoke rising from the sea near Tuapse following a “massive UAV attack.” Anti-aircraft systems were reportedly engaged in the area, but the extent of the damage to the Tuapse oil refinery remains unclear. The Exilenova+ channel reported a drone strike on the refinery but did not provide specific details.

Russia’s Ministry of Defense claimed that 47 Ukrainian drones were intercepted overnight, including 29 in Rostov Oblast, 8 in Krasnodar Krai, 3 each in Belgorod, Bryansk, and Voronezh Oblasts, and one over occupied Crimea.

These incidents mark the continuation of Ukraine’s strategy to target Russian military logistics and fuel supplies, with Atlas and Tuapse being significant facilities in sustaining Russia’s military operations.

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