Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) listens to Russia’s oil company Rosneft’s CEO Igor Sechin during their meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow on April 1, 2019. (Photo by Alexei Druzhinin / Sputnik / AFP) (Photo by ALEXEI DRUZHININ/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images)
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Kyiv’s campaign against Moscow’s energy infrastructure shows no signs of slowing as drones continue to hit export facilities that provide important war revenue for the Kremlin.
RBC-Ukraine reported on Nov. 14 that Ukrainian drones struck the strategic Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk early Friday, damaging a docked vessel, igniting fires at the Sheskharis oil terminal and possibly hitting an S-300/400 air defense position, citing local reports and Ukrainian intelligence sources.
The strike targeted one of Russia’s most critical energy export hubs – the endpoint of pipelines operated by state-owned Transneft. Oil prices rose roughly 2% on Friday on renewed supply concerns following the attack, according to Reuters.
June Goh, a senior oil market analyst at Sparta Commodities, told Reuters that the Novorossiysk strike “has sparked new fears of oil supply flow disruptions, as this port is the second-largest oil export hub in Russia and comes on the heels of another major attack at Tuapse barely two weeks ago.”
The head of Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation, Andrii Kovalenko, confirmed the strike in a post on Telegram, sharing footage of the damaged terminal. “This is the oil terminal in Novorossiysk after the strike,” he wrote, noting that the attack stands in contrast to Russia’s continued strikes on residential buildings and critical energy infrastructure across Ukraine.
A Pattern Of Pressure
Friday’s attack continues Ukraine’s systematic campaign against Russian energy infrastructure, while the Kremlin steps up strikes on Ukraine’s gas and power networks ahead of winter. Novorossiysk has become a recurring target since Russia was forced to relocate the Black Sea Fleet in 2023, due to constant attacks by Ukrainian drones.
Russia’s Black Sea Fleet warships take part in the Navy Day celebrations in the port city of Novorossiysk on July 30, 2023. (Photo by STRINGER / AFP) (Photo by STRINGER/AFP via Getty Images)
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The strike mirrors a Sept. 24 attack when Ukrainian naval drones paralyzed both Novorossiysk and Tuapse facilities – the first time naval drones were used in such an operation. The export-oriented Tuapse plant, which has a processing capacity of 240,000 barrels per day, has become increasingly vulnerable as repeated strikes force shutdowns and disrupt Rosneft’s ability to move refined products through the Black Sea.
The strike mirrors a Sept. 24 attack when Ukrainian naval drones paralyzed both Novorossiysk and Tuapse facilities – the first time naval drones were used in such an operation. The export-oriented Tuapse plant, which has a processing capacity of 240,000 barrels per day, has become increasingly vulnerable as repeated strikes force shutdowns and disrupt Rosneft’s ability to move refined products through the Black Sea.
In the same month, a Ukrainian military intelligence drone also struck a rare Russian MPSV07-class vessel near Novorossiysk, disabling its electronic systems and forcing it into costly repairs. According to the Kyiv Independent, the $60 million ship was hit while patrolling the Novorossiysk Bay.
Then on Nov. 2, a massive Ukrainian drone attack set a Russian oil tanker ablaze in Tuapse and damaged oil-loading facilities at a nearby Rosneft terminal, according to Bloomberg.
In October, Reuters reported that Russia is already running Novorossiysk at maximum export capacity. Months of Ukrainian drone strikes have pushed refinery outages to record levels, driving seaborne exports to multi-year highs and deepening Russia’s reliance on the Black Sea corridor, which Kyiv is increasingly targeting, including with naval drones.
UKRAINE – APRIL 13: Naval Magura drones sail on the reservoir during a demonstration for journalists on April 13, 2024 in Ukraine. Magura is a Ukrainian multi-purpose overwater drone known for his role against Russian fleet in Black Sea. (Photo by Vitalii Nosach/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
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Ukraine has also expanded its campaign far beyond the Black Sea, striking Russia’s Primorsk oil terminal on the Baltic Sea, which is the final station of the Baltic Pipeline System and a major hub for the Kremlin’s “shadow fleet” of sanction-evading tankers. The September attack, which also hit pumping stations feeding the Ust-Luga terminal, underscores how Kyiv is now targeting every major artery of Russia’s export network that it can reach.
Economic Pressure Mounts
At the same time, new U.S. sanctions on Lukoil and Rosneft have unsettled buyers in China, India and Turkey, cutting Russian crude purchases and leaving nearly a billion barrels idling at sea. Combined with Ukrainian drone attacks, the pressure from both kinetic and economic measures is magnifying the strain on Moscow’s ability to move and monetize its oil.
With pressure mounting across multiple fronts, including around Pokrovsk, Russia has still managed to replenish its ranks by recruiting around 30,000 soldiers per month. Moscow can only sustain that pace because it continues to generate substantial oil revenue, which it uses to pay recruitment bonuses and wages to both Russian and foreign fighters.
For Kyiv, the strategy is therefore twofold: degrade the Kremlin’s combat power on the frontlines and raise the economic costs of the war by undermining Russia’s ability to finance its mobilization through energy exports.
Ukraine’s domestically produced Flamingo cruise missile, reportedly used in recent strikes, signals expanding deep-strike capabilities and the growing scale of damage it can inflict. The tempo of attacks on energy infrastructure is likely to grow in the coming months, forcing Moscow to make increasingly costly decisions about what to protect with its already stretched air defenses.