An oil terminal in Rostov-on-Don has been on fire for three days: reports suggest that 7 out of 12 storage tanks have been destroyed
A major fire has been raging for three days at the oil terminal of the Novoshakhtinsk refinery in Rostov-on-Don, which came under drone attack on the night of 10 October. According to preliminary reports, the fire has destroyed seven of the twelve storage tanks for petroleum products.
This is reported by Censor.NET, citing Russian media.
According to footage released by eyewitnesses, the flames continue to engulf the fuel tanks. According to Russian media reports, seven tanks have already been destroyed, whilst another has been damaged. There is currently no independent confirmation of these reports.
The fire is centred on the Rostov oil terminal. Social media is also reporting heavy smoke across the city.
According to publicly available data, the terminal’s total storage capacity is around 60,000 cubic metres, and its loading capacity is 3.5 million tonnes of petroleum products per year.
What is known about the attack
An oil terminal in the Zheleznodorozhny District of Rostov-on-Don was attacked by drones on the night of 10 October. A fire at the site was detected by NASA’s FIRMS satellite fire monitoring system.
The terminal, which previously belonged to the company ‘Yug Rus’, was used to tranship petroleum products onto sea and river tankers for export, as well as to supply the Russian army with fuel.
Yuri Slyusar, Governor of the Rostov Region, claimed that during the attack, Russian air defences had allegedly shot down more than 100 drones. He reported several fires and six casualties, but did not confirm that the oil terminal had been hit.
In addition, the attack damaged a railway drawbridge on the Rostov–Bataysk section. Russian Railways reported significant delays affecting dozens of trains.
Furthermore, according to Slyusar, two vessels in the Sea of Azov were damaged. As of midday on 12 October, the Russian authorities had not reported that the fire had been extinguished.
