Firefighters continue battling a fire at an oil depot near the village of Kavkazskaya in Russia’s Krasnodar Krai for the fifth day after a drone attack, local authorities claimed on March 24.
Ukrainian drones struck the Kavkazskaya oil pumping station overnight on March 19, damaging infrastructure and igniting a fire, Moscow claimed earlier.
The fire has since spread to 2,000 square meters (21,500 square feet), with one of the storage tanks and the oil products inside still burning, according to the region’s administration.
The Kavkazskaya oil transshipment point is a key facility for Russia’s energy exports, linking a railroad oil terminal with the Kropotkinskaya oil pumping station.
The facility is part of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium system, which pumps up to 6 million metric tons of oil annually.
The reported attack came shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed to have ordered a pause on strikes against energy infrastructure after a phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Kyiv said it agreed to the energy ceasefire in principle but accused Russia of continuing its aerial strikes.
Ukraine has carried out strikes on Russian refineries, oil depots, and defense industry facilities to disrupt Moscow’s ability to sustain its full-scale invasion.
US-Russia talks begin in Saudi Arabia, Russian media reports
The meeting, which comes only a day after talks between the U.S. and Ukraine, is expected to focus on a possible ceasefire in the Black Sea and a broader truce.
