Russian fuel depot in Crimea destroyed by drone strike.

Explosion Rocks Russian-Occupied Sevastopol

Ukrainian Drone Attack Sets Fuel Depot Ablaze

A brilliant explosion turned night to day in the strategic Russian-occupied Crimean port city of Sevastopol, then blacked out the sky as a Russian fuel depot burned throughout the day after a Ukrainian drone attack.

The reported kamikaze drone attack set several fuel storage tanks ablaze at a large fuel terminal on Sevastopol’s west end. The complex on Kozacha Bay made a towering plume of black smoke before burning out, leaving charred tanks and pipelines in its wake.

The site may not be the primary fuel depot for the Russian Black Sea Fleet, as noted below in a thread from The Lookout (@The_Lookout_N). A separate hardened tank farm with piers closer to the fleet’s main berthing areas in Sevastopol harbor possibly serves that role, or at least part of that role.

Significant Damage to Facility Operations

Video from a drone used to survey damage at the facility shows the total destruction of multiple fuel tanks and what looks like serious thermal damage to some of the tanks that didn’t burn themselves. The damage looks significant, likely compromising facility operations for the foreseeable future.

A sizable maneuver and vehicle training area sits to the south, and the military bases along the adjacent Kozacha Bay reportedly garrison the BSF’s 810th Guards Naval Infantry Brigade. The brigade took part in the siege of Mariupol and its Azovstal Complex, and has reportedly suffered heavy casualties since the war began.

Threats to Russian Defensive Plans

Regardless of its potential impact on operations, no Russian supply officer wants to see that much fuel and infrastructure go up in smoke. The issue isn’t so much the lost fuel itself, but the lost capability to retain large amounts of fuel in the future. Ukraine bought a massive fleet of fuel trucks to account for this issue knowing its established fuel farms would be destroyed. So they distributed their fuel into thousands of mobile fuel trucks.

As concerns over the looming Ukrainian counteroffensive grow, any damage to critical supply stockpiles like fuel and ammunition could pose real threats to Russian defensive plans. The fuel depot attack would fit the tried and true Ukrainian strategy of preparing the battlespace ahead of such an offensive.

Russian worries for Crimea could be just the beginning, according to a post from the Crimean Wind (@Crimeanwind) Telegram channel. The post claims Russia is trying to organize a larger ferry system to support evacuation operations from Crimea to Russia alongside the Kerch Strait Bridge. Russia used ferries during the bottleneck last fall after several spans of the bridge fell in a Ukrainian attack, but the post suggests the ferries would supplement any traffic on the bridge if Moscow orders an evacuation.

Latest Updates from Ukraine

The British Ministry of Defense believes Friday’s wave of Russian cruise missile attacks on Ukraine was a stark departure from this winter’s onslaught. In its latest intelligence update, the MoD noted the strikes involved fewer missiles, and it’s unlikely the Russians targeted Ukrainian energy infrastructure as they did this winter.

Ukrainian drone operators continue to terrorize Russian vehicles and fighting positions from above, with the latest montage of strikes from the Ukrainian SBU Alpha unit. The clips reportedly show the destruction of four tanks, a company’s worth of vehicles, and three strong points.

Lastly, a Ukrainian soldier’s video shows that despite the chaos and carnage on the frontline, the wildlife remains. A marbled polecat decided to claim a Ukrainian foxhole for itself and defended it as such. The weasel-like creature hissed and tried to charge at the soldier until they dropped a vest pack into the hole to help it climb out. This little guy paired with the famous trench beaver should really start their own fighting unit.