In April 2026, Tuapse, where residential areas stand alongside tourist sites and a major oil refining complex, came under three Ukrainian drone attacks. After the strikes on April 16 and 20, people were killed and the city faced an environmental emergency: the fire at the oil depot and refinery burned for six days, thick black smoke hung over Tuapse, and residents complained of a suffocating smell of soot and oil products.
According to sources interviewed by the project Vetër, on April 16 drones hit two homes on Kommunisticheskaya and Sochinskaya streets. Twenty-eight-year-old Yevgenia and 14-year-old Valeria were killed; the girl’s body, they said, was still being searched for by rescuers and volunteers ten days later. After the second attack, on April 20, the Krasnodar region administration reported the death of a man on port grounds and damage to a school, kindergarten, museum, church, and several apartment buildings.
Residents said the authorities were slow to acknowledge the scale of the disaster. Only on the evening of April 16 did the regional оперативный штаб report a major port fire. Officials later also acknowledged the “black rain” that left oil and soot stains on cars, roads, and bus stops. Six days after the first attack, authorities said toxic substances in most of the city exceeded permitted levels by two to three times.
“A stench hung over the city. The strangest thing is that you get used to it,” one Tuapse resident said.
On April 17 and 18, residents reported that oil products had entered the Tuapse River and then the Black Sea. The authorities confirmed this only on April 20. After heavy rain on April 24, some of the oil overflowed the booms. According to official figures, volunteers and rescuers collected more than 3,000 cubic meters of pebbles and soil, while environmentalist Zhora Kavanosyan said fuel oil had already been found 20 kilometers from the city.
Environmentalist Alexander Yemelyanov warned about risks to people, animals, birds, and plants. On the night of April 28, 2026, Tuapse was attacked by drones again: the refinery caught fire once more, more than 150 people were deployed to fight it, and residents of nearby streets were urged to evacuate.