Sochi, Russia – A Ukrainian drone attack overnight on Sunday triggered a fire at an oil depot in Sochi, the southwestern Russian resort city known for hosting the 2014 Winter Olympics, according to local authorities. The strike follows a pattern of Ukrainian retaliatory attacks on Russian oil and gas infrastructure amid ongoing Russian assaults on Ukraine since February 2022.
Krasnodar region Governor Veniamin Kondratiev reported on Telegram that drone wreckage struck an oil tank, sparking the blaze. Sochi Mayor Andrei Proshunin confirmed no casualties occurred, stating that firefighters were actively containing the fire and the situation was "totally under control." Sochi’s airport briefly suspended air traffic, but operations have since resumed, per Russia’s air transport regulator Rosaviatsia.
The attack comes a day after Ukraine’s military reported striking the Ryazan oil refinery in central Russia, also causing a fire. While Sochi, located 400km southeast of Ukraine’s border, has seen fewer attacks than other Russian cities, a Ukrainian drone strike in the region last month killed two people, local officials said.
Ukraine’s air force reported that Russia launched 76 attack drones and seven missiles targeting eight Ukrainian locations overnight into Sunday. Ukrainian defenses downed 60 drones and one missile. In the front-line regions of Zaporizhia and Kherson, Russian attacks killed at least three people and injured over a dozen in the past 24 hours, regional governors reported. A Russian missile strike on Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine injured seven and damaged numerous homes and civilian infrastructure, according to the regional governor. Mykolaiv has faced persistent drone and missile threats despite Russian ground forces being pushed back in late 2022. Kyiv also reported a brief Russian missile attack overnight, with no reported damage or injuries.
Kyiv has vowed to escalate air strikes on Russia in response to intensified Russian attacks, which have killed dozens of Ukrainian civilians in recent weeks. Ukrainian officials have not commented on the Sochi incident.
On the diplomatic front, U.S. President Donald Trump recently threatened “severe tariffs” on Russia unless a peace deal is reached by early September, giving Russian President Vladimir Putin a 10-to-12-day deadline from last week. The Kremlin has dismissed prospects of a lasting ceasefire, with Putin reiterating demands for Ukraine to cede territory and abandon NATO ambitions—conditions Kyiv has rejected.
The conflict continues to escalate, with both sides intensifying military actions and no immediate resolution in sight.
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