Explosions continue after Russian oil refinery struck by Ukraine

Huge explosions continue to rock a vast oil terminal in Russian-controlled Crimea after being targeted in a Ukrainian missile strike. The Marine Oil Terminal in Feodosia has been burning for more than four days after being hit on Tuesday to coincide with Vladimir Putin’s birthday. New footage shows a tower of flames almost 200ft high after the latest eruption, with thick black smoke still billowing into the air above the city.

‘Intense’ fires appear to only be getting worse, despite Russian efforts to control the spread, according to local Telegram channels. More than a thousand people have been evacuated the area since Tuesday, according to local Russian-appointed officials. By early Wednesday, the fire at the largest refinery on the peninsula had spread from 800 sq-metres to 2,500 sq-metres, according to Russian reports.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty shared satellite photos from above, claiming the fire had spread to ‘at least 10 fuel tanks’ by Wednesday. ‘Eyewitnesses reported that the fire spread to other containers with oil products, some of which exploded,’ it reported. Originally reported as a drone strike, it appears instead to have been hit by two ATACMS long range missiles supplied to Ukraine by the US.

Kyiv said the strike was intended to ‘undermine’ Russia’s military and economy. Ukraine’s general staff said that oil products being shipped out from the terminal were being used to ‘meet the needs of the Russian occupation army’, which illegally annexed Crimea in 2014. Russian-installed authorities in Crimea acknowledged a fire had broken out at the depot in the Black Sea port town of some 70,000 people and that there were no casualties.

The Putin-appointed governor of occupied Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, said the emergency and security services were on hand. ‘The terminal is surrounded by employees of the relevant services, and all the managers are also on site,’ he said. ‘I am personally monitoring the situation, receiving reports from the scene via video link every half hour.’

On Monday, the fire caused road and train closures, but the Russian consumer safety watchdog said Monday initial checks did not find excess levels of air pollution. The watchdog said the fire was raging at the Sea Oil Terminal, whose website says it ‘stores fuel in case of emergency situations and ensures Crimea’s energy security’. The facility was previously targeted in March, with Ukraine intent on responding to Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure.

Russia has defended the facility with Pantsir-S short-range air defense systems since late 2022, based on satellite imagery. Ukraine has in recent days also hit an airport in Krasnodar region, and a massive stash of Iranian kamikaze drones – supplied by Iran to Russia.

Russian strikes overnight on the southern Ukrainian region of Odesa meanwhile killed four people, including a teenage girl, and wounded 10 more, the regional governor said Friday. Russia has targeted Ukraine’s coastal Odesa region throughout the war, hitting cargo ships and grain silos in what Kyiv says is an attempt to destroy its export capacity.

‘The enemy attacked the Odesa region with ballistic missiles. Four people were killed, including a teenager,’ the regional governor Oleg Kiper wrote on social media. He said a two-story building had been destroyed in the attack and that the victims included a 43-year-old woman, a 22-year-old man and a 16-year-old girl. ‘Another woman died in hospital from her injuries,’ Kiper said, adding that 10 people had been wounded.

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