MOSCOW, March 2 (Reuters) - Five people were injured and 20 buildings damaged in a massive overnight Ukrainian drone attack on the southern Russian city of Novorossiysk, which hosts a port and a naval
Black Sea's Novorossiysk port suspended loadings after a major Ukrainian drone attack
Impact and Details of the Novorossiysk Port Attack
Overview of the Incident
MOSCOW, March 2 (Reuters) - Russia's Sheskharis oil terminal suspended oil loadings on Monday following a Ukrainian drone attack that injured five, damaged 20 buildings and set a fuel terminal on fire, according to Russian and Ukrainian officials and three trade sources.
The Sheskharis oil terminal in Novorossiysk is Russia's major oil outlet in the Black Sea, loading 700,000 barrels per day of crude oil. The suspension of exports from the port is a hit to Russia's already strained infrastructure.
Details of the Drone Attack
Ukrainian Claims and Targets
An official at Ukraine's security service, the SBU, said Ukrainian drones had struck the Sheskharis oil terminal at the port, hitting six of its seven loading facilities, and that the drones also struck Russian warships. Ukraine's General Staff said the drones also struck a naval base, along with an S-400 surface-to-air missile defence system.
Russian Response and Damage Assessment
Russia, which restricts information about attacks on its military, made no mention of any damage to its military assets. Reuters could not independently verify what Ukraine had struck.
The Russian Defence Ministry said it had downed 172 Ukrainian drones overnight, including 67 over the Black Sea and 66 over the Krasnodar region, where Novorossiysk is located.
Operational Disruptions and Local Impact
Suspension of Oil Loadings
There were no tankers loading at the Sheskharis oil terminal during the attack, the sources said. The loadings were suspended in advance and the vessels returned to sea amid a drone attack alert, they added.
Extent of Damage
One of the sources said that some administrative buildings at the Sheskharis oil terminal were damaged as well as bunker storage and loading facilities and some berths, but didn't provide further details on the damage.
Local Authorities' Statements
Local authorities in southern Russia said that a fuel terminal at the port had caught fire overnight. They said the blaze had been put out and made no mention of how it had ignited, though officials confirmed the Ukrainian attack.
"All night long, our military repelled a massive attack by Ukrainian drones. The strongest strike hit Novorossiysk, where a state of emergency was declared," said Veniamin Kondratyev, governor of the Krasnodar region.
Andrei Kravchenko, the mayor of Novorossiysk, posted images of some of the damage on his Telegram channel and said preliminary information suggested that eight residential tower blocks had been damaged along with nine private houses and three kindergartens.
Five people were being treated in hospital, he said.
Broader Regional and Market Effects
Caspian Pipeline Consortium Terminal
The nearby Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal also suspended operations early on Monday amid the alert and resumed operations around midday Moscow time, one of the sources added. Ukrainian drones did not hit the terminal on Monday.
Kazakhstan's Oil Production
Kazakhstan's energy ministry said on Monday that the latest attack had not affected its oil production and that both output and exports continued as normal.
Reporting Credits
(Reporting by Reuters Moscow and Kyiv bureaus;Writing by Andrew Osborn and Anna Pruchnicka; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Lisa Shumaker)
