A fire erupted overnight at an oil depot near the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi after a suspected Ukrainian drone strike, intensifying a weekend of cross-border attacks between the two countries. The blaze was eventually brought under control after hours of firefighting, local officials said.
Krasnodar region governor Veniamin Kondratyev reported that the fire began when drone wreckage hit a storage tank at the depot, which held roughly 2,000 cubic meters of fuel. Smoke rose high over the resort city, which hosted the 2014 Winter Olympics, as emergency crews worked with over 120 personnel to contain the flames. Air traffic at Sochi’s airport was briefly halted before resuming once the area was secured.
The Sochi attack was part of a wider campaign of drone strikes on Russian territory. Authorities in Ryazan, Penza, and Voronezh said they faced similar incidents, with four injuries reported in Voronezh. Russia’s defense ministry claimed its air defenses intercepted 93 Ukrainian drones overnight, 60 of them over the Black Sea region.
Ukraine has adopted a strategy of hitting Russia’s energy infrastructure in response to months of bombardments against its own cities and power grid. The Ukrainian air force said Russia launched 76 drones and seven missiles against Ukraine during the same night. Sixty drones and one missile were intercepted, but others reached targets in eight regions, damaging homes and infrastructure.
Southern Ukraine saw some of the heaviest impacts. In Kherson, a strike on the Ostrivsky bridge killed one person and further weakened the crossing that links the Korabel Island district to the city center. Local officials urged partial evacuations, as about 1,800 residents remain in the area. In nearby Mykolaiv, a missile strike injured at least seven people and left multiple houses destroyed or uninhabitable.
The week capped a deadly stretch for Ukraine. On Thursday, a Russian attack on Kyiv killed 31 people, including children, and injured more than 150. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky renewed appeals for stronger air defense systems, while Germany pledged to send two additional Patriot launchers to bolster Ukraine’s shield against drone and missile barrages.
Amid the continued strikes, Zelensky also announced progress on a new prisoner exchange, saying Ukraine and Russia had agreed in principle to swap 1,200 detainees. He emphasized that work is ongoing to finalize the lists and ensure civilians are included in the exchange.
In Washington, U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated warnings of additional sanctions targeting Russian oil and exports if progress toward peace is not made by early August. Moscow has resisted pressure to agree to a long-term ceasefire, insisting that Ukraine must abandon its NATO aspirations and cede territory before any settlement can be reached.
As fires are extinguished and damage is assessed, the overnight strikes highlight a growing pattern: neither side shows signs of backing down, and the conflict continues to spill across borders in ways that disrupt civilian life far from the front lines.
Red = Krasnodar Krai (Sochi Region)
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