Explosions Rock Novorossiysk as Drones Hit Key Russian Oil Hub and Air-Defense Base

A series of explosions rocked the Russian port city of Novorossiysk, igniting large fires at the Sheskharis oil terminal and reportedly hitting a local air-defense base, according to the video shared by the monitoring channel Exilenova+ on November 14.

According to local residents, the attack began shortly after midnight, with powerful blasts echoing across the city and surrounding districts. Satellite data from NASA’s FIRMS fire-tracking system later confirmed numerous hotspots consistent with major fires in the area.

Regional authorities in Krasnodar Krai later acknowledged “damage to an oil storage facility” at the Sheskharis transshipment complex—one of Russia’s most strategic export terminals operated by Transneft.

The port handles a large share of the country’s crude oil and petroleum shipments through the Black Sea. Officials also claimed a civilian vessel in the harbor sustained minor damage.

The open-source intelligence community CyberBoroshno reported that drones also struck an S-300/400 surface-to-air missile position belonging to Russia’s 1537th Air Defense Regiment. Footage posted online shows a massive fireball followed by a towering column of flames rising over the port.

Amid the overnight chaos, flights at nearby airports in Krasnodar and Gelendzhik were temporarily suspended.

By morning, Russia’s Ministry of Defense claimed its air-defense units had intercepted 66 Ukrainian drones across the Krasnodar region during the night—an assertion that, as usual, could not be independently verified.

The Sheskharis terminal has long been considered a critical node in Russia’s export infrastructure. Any disruption there risks bottlenecks in crude deliveries to global markets, as the facility handles oil flows from multiple fields and pipelines feeding into the Black Sea network.

Earlier, Ukraine’s General Staff for the first time confirmed the use of domestically-produced Flamingo and Bars long-range weapons during coordinated overnight strikes on Russian military infrastructure in occupied Crimea, the occupied Zaporizhzhia region, and several sites inside Russia.

In its statement, the General Staff said that Ukrainian forces conducted a series of long-range launches “using the Flamingo, Bars, and Liutyi” systems. The announcement included footage of night-time missile launches.

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