Ukrainian Drone Attack Triggers Fire at a Russian Oil Terminal

A Ukrainian drone strike ignited a fire at the Sheskharis oil terminal in Russia’s Krasnodar region overnight, according to local officials in Novorossiysk. The attack injured two people and targeted the terminal, a key hub for Transneft’s main oil pipelines in the region. Russian news outlet Astra reported the strike, though images of smoke rising from the site could not be independently verified. This incident follows Ukraine’s expanded use of domestically developed drone and missile technology to counter Russia’s four-year invasion. Attacks on Russian oil infrastructure, critical to funding the war, have become near-daily occurrences. Separately, the death toll from a Ukrainian drone strike on a college dormitory in Starobilsk, a city in Ukraine’s Russia-occupied Luhansk region, rose to 11, according to Moscow-installed officials. Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned the attack as a ‘crime’ and directed the military to propose retaliation, despite claims there were no military facilities nearby. At an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting, Ukraine’s Ambassador Andrii Melnyk rejected Russia’s accusations of war crimes, calling them ‘pure propaganda’ and stating the May 22 operation exclusively targeted the Russian war machine. The meeting was held at Russia’s request to address the strike.