Drone attack sparks fire at oil depot in Russian-occupied Crimea
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On the evening of October 7, a fire erupted at the Feodosia oil depot in Crimea, which is currently under Russian temporary occupation. Initial reports suggest that drones targeted the facility. The General Staff of Ukraine's armed forces has confirmed the destruction of the oil terminal in Crimea.
Oleg Kryuchkov, the adviser to the occupying head of Crimea, and Telegram channels reported this.
According to residents (subscribers of Russian channels), several powerful explosions rang out in Feodosia around 4:30 a.m., after which a fire started.
"Several powerful explosions were heard in Feodosia around 04:30; an oil depot is on fire. The fire in Feodosia can be seen from Kirovske, which is 25 km away in a straight line," the Crimean Wind Telegram channel reported with reference to its subscribers.
The so-called "authorities" have confirmed the information, but according to their account, there was simply a fire.
"Fire at the Feodosia oil depot. The units of the Ministry of Emergency Situations are working. There are no casualties or fatalities. Vice-Prime Minister Igor Mykhailichenko is heading to Feodosia," Kryuchkov wrote, referring to the "head of the administration of Feodosia" Igor Tkachenko.
Later, the ASTRA Telegram channel clarified that the burning oil depot in Feodosia is actually the Marine Oil Terminal JSC, which had previously been attacked by drones. In March 2024, four drones simultaneously crashed on the depot's premises.
The attack damaged the primary fuel pipeline, causing a fire to erupt. Workers were subsequently evacuated from the oil storage facility. It took approximately an hour and a half to put out the fire.
It should be noted that the Feodosia oil refinery terminal is the largest in Crimea in terms of petroleum product transshipment. There are only two such terminals on the peninsula; the second is located in Sevastopol.
"Due to the incident at the oil depot, traffic has been blocked on Heolohichna St. and Fedka St. from the intersection with the Kerch highway to the area of the bus station," the so-called "head" of Feodosia, Igor Tkachenko, wrote on his Telegram.
The object was damaged by missile units of Ukraine's armed forces, which worked in collaboration with other components of Ukraine's Defense forces.
It should be added that that night, according to information from the Crimean Wind channel, the Belbek and Saky airfields were attacked in the temporarily occupied Crimea.
Saky airfield
The first explosions were reported at 00:21 a.m. According to the channel, seven blasts were heard in the vicinity of the Saky airfield in Novofedorivka, and shooting was also heard.
In addition, explosions were also heard in the Simferopol district. Some channels wrote that UAVs were flying to the temporarily occupied city of Simferopol.
The channel aired a clip of the explosions and flashes in the Saky district at 1:06 a.m. Shortly after, at around 1:08 a.m., Crimean Wind reported a fire in the vicinity of the Belbek airfield.
Belbek airfield
"At around one o'clock in the morning, a strong fire broke out in the area of the Belbek airfield. Its source is unknown," the report reads.
According to the network's reports, the Russian occupiers took off planes from the Belbek airfield around midnight. The reporters propose that this was done to avoid being targeted.
At the same time, the air threat was announced throughout Crimea.
For reference:
On September 22, loud explosions rang out in the temporarily captured Crimea near Dzhankoi. The smoke rose in the area of the village of Azovske and the direction of the village of Pobiedne. As the network adds, a military airfield is between Dzhankoi and Pobiedne.
On the night of August 30, the Russian Federation announced a drone attack on the airport near Kaluha, in Crimea; explosions were also heard near the Kirovske airfield.
Ukrainian kamikaze drones also attacked the Russian airfield Savasleyka on August 16. Three Russian planes were destroyed there.
Moreover, on the night of August 14, Russia was massively attacked by drones. Even though the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported on the so-called "destruction" of 117 drones in eight regions of the aggressor country, the so-called Russian military commanders wrote about three Russian airfields that were under attack.
Then, the airbases "Voronezh," "Kursk," "Savasleyka," and "Borysoglebsk" were targeted.
According to reports, the Ukrainian Defense Forces successfully attacked strategic targets on Russian territory, causing significant damage to the Russian airfield Lipetsk, which subsequently caught fire.
As a result of the night attack, warehouses with guided aerial bombs and several other objects in the vicinity of the airport were hit. Several ignition sources were recorded, an intense fire broke out, and multiple detonations were observed.
Moreover, at the beginning of August, the Defense Forces "cleared" the airfield Morozovsk of anti-aircraft missiles and fighters.
At that point, the General Staff officially confirmed the use of drones by Ukraine's armed forces to attack the Morozovsk airfield near Rostov. The targeted warehouse containing ammunition was successfully hit.
