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Repeated drone attacks incite unrest at key Russian oil refinery
© picture alliance / Artcolor | Artcolor
Russian President Vladimir Putin was still calling for calm on Tuesday, stressing that there was "no serious danger" in Tuapse. But local authorities and international sources warn that these arson attacks could have disastrous consequences.
For the fourth time in just two weeks, a fire has broken out at the oil refinery in the southern Russian port city of Tuapse. It appears that the Ukrainian military is behind the arson attacks, carried out with drone strikes. However, the latest attack has not yet been officially claimed by Kiev, but Ukraine has already confirmed that it's behind the three previous drone attacks on the oil refinery in Tuapse in recent weeks. Tuapse is therefore not coincidentally a prime target for Ukrainian forces.
Indeed, the oil refinery in Tuapse, a port city on the Black Sea in southern Russia, is a major facility of the state-owned Rosneft, with an annual production capacity of about 12 million tons of oil products, mainly intended for export. It's located near an oil terminal that imports and exports crude oil, with a capacity of over 70 million barrels per year. Toeapse is therefore one of Russia's 10 largest refineries and plays a crucial role in oil exports through the Black Sea port. The repeated disruptions caused by Ukrainian drone attacks are therefore hitting the Russian oil industry hard.
But the danger to local residents and nature cannot be underestimated either. Indeed, the fires that broke out at the refinery recently continued to rage for days, forcing the evacuation of nearby residents as well as the declaration of a state of emergency. Moreover, holidays during the May vacations were canceled due to the inconvenience. Oil has also already leaked into the sea and rainfall covered the city with an oil-like layer. Officials report that the concentration of pollutants deposited on the area in the process is two to three times higher than allowed.
© picture alliance / Artcolor | Artcolor