Ukrainian drones set a major oil depot ablaze near the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk overnight on 7-8 June 2026, in a strike confirmed by Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces (SBS). Residents reported a string of blasts and heavy smoke over the Grushovaya storage site, which feeds Russia's busiest oil-export port. Ukrainian forces hit two more targets in southern Russia the same night.

Drones spark a blaze at Novorossiysk's oil hub

The strike came before dawn. Residents of Novorossiysk, in Russia's Krasnodar Krai, reported about 50 blasts, then heavy smoke over the Grushovaya oil depot. Operators of the SBS's 1st Separate Center, working with Special Operations Forces (SSO) and other units, confirmed the hit. Ukraine's General Staff also confirmed the strike and said a fire broke out, with damage still being assessed. Russian officials claimed no one was hurt.

NASA's FIRMS satellite service detected abnormal heat at the site at 02:48 on 8 June. Ukrainian Telegram channel Exilenova+ began reporting the attack around 3 a.m., posting photos and videos of fire in the mountains above the city. OSINT Telegram channel Falcon insight pinpointed the location. Russian news Telegram channel ASTRA confirmed the burning tank farm from eyewitness footage shot about 11 km away.

What the Grushovaya depot feeds

The Grushovaya site is a transshipment depot for the Sheskharis terminal. Chernomortransneft runs it, under Russia's state pipeline monopoly Transneft. It sits in the Grushovaya Balka tract beyond the Markotkh Ridge, about 12 km from Novorossiysk. The tank farm holds more than 1.2 million m³ of fuel across dozens of tanks, on a site of about 212 hectares. SBS called it one of the largest oil-product stores in the Caucasus.

Novorossiysk is southern Russia's biggest oil-export hub, the Moscow Times reported. The port ships up to 700,000 barrels a day, and its terminals moved 19.8 million tonnes of oil products in 2025. That trade feeds Russia's budget, which bankrolls the war on Ukraine. The port has become a recurring target in Ukraine's strikes on Russia's Black Sea oil logistics.

Volgograd and a coastal radar also hit

The same night, Ukraine's General Staff said its forces struck the Krasny Yar oil-pumping station in Volgograd Oblast, where a fire broke out. Volgograd governor Andrei Bocharov claimed the blaze came from falling drone debris at the Zhirnovsk pumping station and was quickly put out, the Moscow Times reported. Ukrainian forces also hit a Russian radar station near Kabardinka in Krasnodar Krai, according to the General Staff.

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Not the first strike on Novorossiysk's oil chain

Ukrainian forces have hit this infrastructure before. Ukrainian defense outlet Militarnyi reported that drones struck the Grushovaya depot on 23 May 2026, when fire spread across much of the site. Strike drones also hit the Sheskharis terminal on 6 April, damaging oil-metering systems and shut-off valves at the loading berths. ASTRA said the wider complex was attacked in early March, early April, and on 22 May.

Commander of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces, Robert “Madyar” Brovdi, says Russian losses reached 1,006 killed and 1,090 wounded during the first six days of June, as Ukrainian drone forces continued strikes against targets on and beyond the front line.

The commander of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces published the figures on 7 June alongside an update on overnight operations targeting Russian logistics and infrastructure in occupied territory and inside Russia.

More than 2,000 casualties reported in six days

Brovdi said Russian forces suffered a combined 2,096 killed and wounded between 1 and 6 June.

He described the losses as equivalent to the combat strength of a full Russian assault brigade lost within a single week.

The commander also used a railway comparison to illustrate the scale of the casualties, saying the losses would add the equivalent of 20 refrigerated and medical railcars to Russia’s “one-way ticket” train over the six-day period.

Drone strikes target rear-area infrastructure

According to Brovdi, Ukrainian forces also struck 26 targets overnight on 7 June across occupied parts of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Crimea, as well as Russia’s Bryansk Oblast.

He said Ukrainian units destroyed an air defense system and damaged three locomotives, two railway fuel tanks, four electrical substations, and six telecommunications towers. The strikes also disrupted the movement of military cargo toward the front, according to the statement.

Earlier on 7 June, Ukrainian Special Operations Forces reported strikes on the Semikolodezyanska oil depot in Yedi-Quyu and a maritime fuel terminal in Feodosia. Ukrainian officials said the operation was intended to reduce Russia’s logistical and economic capacity to sustain military operations in occupied territory.

The reported targets fit a broader Ukrainian effort to degrade Russian logistics networks, transport infrastructure, and support systems operating behind the frontline.

Ukraine says it doubled the number of successful strikes on Russian targets more than 50 kilometers behind the front line in May under the “Logistics Lockdown” program, which prioritizes attacks on transport networks, fuel infrastructure, depots, and other systems supporting Russian military operations.