Fire at Russian oil terminal follows suspected drone strike

A large fire erupted at an oil-loading terminal in Russia's Rostov-on-Don region overnight on October 9-10, following a suspected drone attack. Footage published by the Exilenova+ monitoring channel appeared to show significant flames and smoke at the Yug Rusi oil-loading terminal. An OSINT analyst with the independent Russian outlet ASTRA identified the facility, which handles petroleum products for export, including shipments from the Novoshakhtinsk Oil Refinery, a part of the Yug Rusi group of companies.

Russian regional authorities acknowledged a fire and stated that air defenses were active, but they did not confirm any damage to the terminal itself. Ukrainian military officials have not claimed responsibility for the reported attack. ASTRA also reported damage to a residential building in Rostov-on-Don amid ongoing reports of drone activity and Russian air defense operations.

The Yug Rusi oil-loading terminal is a separate facility from the main processing units of the Novoshakhtinsk refinery. According to the refinery's specifications, the terminal has an annual capacity of 3.5 million metric tons for receiving and shipping petroleum products.

This incident follows a Ukrainian strike on the Novoshakhtinsk refinery on September 25. Ukraine has been increasingly targeting Russian oil infrastructure to disrupt fuel supplies to its military and reduce Moscow's energy revenues. U.S. President Donald Trump has publicly urged Ukraine to cease these attacks, citing concerns about rising global diesel prices. Ukrainian President Zelensky has indicated a willingness to halt strikes on Russian energy facilities if Moscow reciprocates by stopping its own attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure.