Rostov-on-Don Oil Terminal Burns for Third Day After Reported Ukrainian Drone Attack

An oil products terminal in Rostov-on-Don, a city in southern Russia, was still burning on Monday, October 12, for a third consecutive day. Independent media and Ukrainian monitoring channels attribute the fire to a Ukrainian drone attack overnight into Saturday, part of Ukraine's strikes on Russian fuel infrastructure during the war. Ukraine has not publicly claimed responsibility for hitting the facility.

Footage from the outlets Astra and Exilenova+ shows flames and thick smoke rising from the terminal's fuel storage tanks. The site belongs to the Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery and has a total storage capacity of 60,000 cubic meters. According to publicly available data, it can handle 3.5 million metric tons of petroleum products annually. The facility, formerly known as Yug Rusi, is located in the city's Zheleznodorozhny district.

The Ukrainian monitoring channel Supernova said preliminary information suggested seven of the terminal's 12 tanks had burned and another showed fire damage. This extent of damage could not be independently confirmed. The local Telegram channel Rostov Glavny said the city had been covered in smoke for a second day and, citing rumors, suggested reeds might be burning, but Astra's analysis placed the fire at the terminal. NASA's FIRMS satellite monitoring system detected a fire at the site.

The terminal transfers petroleum products onto sea and river tankers for export and has reportedly supplied fuel to the Russian military.

Official information

Rostov region Governor Yury Slyusar said air defenses downed more than 100 drones over the region overnight. He reported several fires and six injured people, but did not mention damage to the terminal. As of midday Monday, authorities had not announced that the fire was out.

The attacks also damaged a railway drawbridge on the line between Rostov-on-Don and nearby Bataysk, and Russian Railways said dozens of trains faced lengthy delays. Slyusar added that two vessels were damaged in the nearby city of Azov.