Novorossiysk attacked by drones — explosions in the city and a burning oil depot. Earlier, the US asked Ukraine not to strike there
On the night of March 2, the Russian port city of Novorossiysk, important for the basing of the Russian Black Sea Fleet and its oil transshipment infrastructure, was subjected to a massive drone attack. This was reported by the city and regional authorities.
Screenshot from video
Significantly, last week the Ukrainian ambassador to the US stated that in autumn, when Ukraine attacked Novorossiysk's oil infrastructure, the US warned Kyiv not to do so, as it harms the business interests of American companies that export Kazakh oil through this city, writes BBC News Ukraine.
Throughout the night, videos of strikes on oil facilities in Novorossiysk and massive explosions appeared on social media. Russian authorities report damage to many homes, and Russian media report damage to a large oil terminal.
The Ukrainian side has not yet commented on this situation.
"All night our military repelled a massive attack by Ukrainian drones. Novorossiysk suffered the strongest blow; a state of emergency has been introduced there," the Krasnodar Krai authorities stated.
According to their data, 8 apartment buildings and 9 private houses, as well as a kindergarten, were damaged. Five people were injured.
The head of Novorossiysk, Andrey Kravchenko, claims that these damages were caused by fragments of downed drones.
The Astra publication analyzed the published videos and suggested that the "Sheskharis" oil terminal caught fire, but there is no official confirmation of this information.
However, the mayor of Novorossiysk admitted in the morning that traffic in the area of this terminal was blocked and only reopened after 6 AM.
The "Sheskharis" oil loading terminal is a large sea complex for receiving, storing, and shipping oil and petroleum products to tankers. It is one of Russia's largest and strategically important oil terminals.
The terminal had already been damaged as a result of a Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) attack in November 2025.
"The 'Sheskharis' terminal is one of the largest oil loading complexes for transshipping oil and petroleum products in the south of the Russian Federation. It is involved in supplying the aggressor state's armed forces groups that are conducting combat operations in Ukraine," the AFU General Staff noted last year and reported on the strike.
Not to strike Novorossiysk?
On February 24, it became known that after a successful autumn drone attack by the AFU on port and oil infrastructure in Russian Novorossiysk, Ukraine received a signal from the United States, which warned to "refrain from attacking US interests." This allegedly affected US investments in Kazakhstan, which supplied oil through Novorossiysk.
The US dissatisfaction with Ukraine's strikes was reported on February 24, 2026, by Ukrainian Ambassador Olga Stefanishyna, who was quoted by Foreign Policy.
According to another Ukrainian official, whose words FP cited on condition of anonymity, it was not a formal demarche, but a phone conversation regarding the attack.
Ukrainian experts then noted that Russia constantly strikes American factories in Ukraine, in particular, large productions in Mukachevo and Trostianets were destroyed.
In November 2025, Ukrainian military personnel struck the infrastructure of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium in the waters of the Novorossiysk seaport.
Oil from Kazakhstan flows through this pipeline to Russia and then is exported through the CPC marine terminal.
Kazakhstan then expressed protest, simultaneously activating a plan to divert oil to alternative routes.
On November 30, 2025, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan expressed protest over the attack on the infrastructure of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium in the waters of the Novorossiysk seaport.
Ukraine responded then by stating: "No actions of the Ukrainian side are directed against the Republic of Kazakhstan or other third parties — all efforts of Ukraine are aimed at repelling full-scale Russian aggression within the framework of exercising the right to self-defense guaranteed by Article 51 of the UN Charter. Within the framework of verified and strategically justified defensive operations, the Defense Forces of Ukraine systematically weaken the aggressor's military-industrial potential and deprive it of means for waging a criminal aggressive war and killing our people — Ukraine strikes back at the aggressor's strikes and attacks."
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