Fire Rages At Large Russian State Oil Depot, Still Two Days After Ukraine Drone Attack

A massive fire has been raging in the southern Russian city of Proletarsk (in Rostov region) for nearly two days, after a cross-border Ukrainian drone strike on its major state fuel storage facility ignited fuel warehouses.

Large crews of firefighters have been working to extinguish the blaze for well over 24 hours straight at this point, leaving over 40 of them injured.

Ukraine claimed responsibility for the Sunday morning drone strike on the “Kavkaz” oil and petroleum storage facility, while Russian authorities said that a diesel fire ignited after local anti-air defense batteries downed inbound drones over the city.

The Kyiv Independent cited Rostov officials who described “Russian air defense units thwarted the drone attack but their efforts caused debris to strike the facility, setting it on fire.”

Ukraine officials further noted that  “oil and petroleum products, which were supplied to the Russian occupation army were stored here.”

Follow-up videos after the initial attack showed new explosions at the site, which could be seen at a great distance. An official state of emergency for the area has been declared.

Image source: v-pravda.ru

“As of now, 41 firefighters have been hospitalized. Eighteen of them required extended care, with five in intensive care,” Golubev Rostov region hast stated on Telegram.

One widely circulating video shows a fireball and smoke plumes so large that firefighters are forced to stand helplessly by and appear unable to do anything while the flames rage several stories high.

❗️Meanwhile, in #Proletarsk, Rostov Region, for the third day now, there has been a regular smoke blanket at an oil depot as a result of a UAV landing. Due to the high temperature, firefighting has been suspended. The smoke plume has stretched for 25 kilometers. Good luck! pic.twitter.com/7wMK8wcL5g

— Maryna Chekh (@ChekhMaryna) August 19, 2024

In total Russia’s defense ministry later said at least five drones were shot down over Proletarsk during the time when the fire erupted at the fuel depot.

Proletarsk is a significant distance from Ukraine, at some 250 kilometers (or 155 miles) from the border. 

Ukraine has launched several large-scale drone attacks on Russian airfields and fuel depots during its major cross-border Kursk offensive since the start of the Aug.6 incursion.

To understand the size of the Proletarsk state reserve fuel facility, here is the satellite photo. Back of the envelope calculation is that it holds up to $200 million worth of fuel, based on the Russian domestic wholesale price of about $500 per ton of diesel. Each of these… https://t.co/rSjhCIN58g pic.twitter.com/ZHIe9wBGXK

— Yaroslav Trofimov (@yarotrof) August 19, 2024

By the looks of it, fuel worth hundreds of millions of dollars in state reserves is going up in flames.

This is the latest disaster in a series of ‘bad news’ developments for the Kremlin as Ukraine tries to desperately hit Russian territory with everything it has, even as Ukraine forces are fairing poorly and are still losing ground along the frontlines in the Donbass.

Planet Labs overhead satellite image taken Monday afternoon local time.

Russia’s Defense Ministry (MoD) has meanwhile on Monday said it captured the town of Artemovo in Eastern Ukraine (and called Zalizne in Ukraine), with the MoD describing it as one of the area’s “major population centers.”

More footage showing just how immense the blaze is…

🔥 Russia: The Kavkaz oil depot in Rostov region stored oil products for exclusive use by the Russian military.
The storage tanks continue to detonate as fire expands, for 40 hours now.
The governor initially reported that all Ukrainian drones were “intercepted.” pic.twitter.com/C4IztWUjCq

— Igor Sushko (@igorsushko) August 19, 2024