Putin says there are ‘no serious threats’ from Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian refinery as oil spills into city street

Vladimir Putin broke his silence on Ukrainian drone strikes against oil infrastructure in Tuapse, addressing the issue during a meeting on election security. Pavel Zarubin, host of the program Moskva. Kreml. Putin (“Moscow. Kremlin. Putin”), published a clip of his remarks on his Telegram channel.

“Drone strikes on civilian infrastructure are becoming more frequent. The latest example is the strikes on energy facilities in Tuapse, which could potentially cause serious environmental consequences. Although the governor just reported that there appear to be no serious threats and that people on the ground are managing the challenges they face,” Putin said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had earlier effectively declined to comment on the situation in Tuapse, saying that “any information about sites hit as a result of strikes by the Kyiv regime is classified.” He added only that the cleanup effort was proceeding “at the proper level.”

Ukrainian drones struck oil infrastructure in Tuapse in the early hours of April 28 — the third such attack in a month. The first two strikes, on April 16 and 20, sparked fires that killed three people, including two children.

Each fire took several days to extinguish. After the first, an oil slick covering roughly 10,000 square meters (107,639 square feet) was found in the Black Sea. The second left the city blanketed in “oil rain.”

The third attack caused heavy smoke and an oil spill on one of the city’s streets. Residents near the Tuapse oil refinery, the target of the strike, have begun to be evacuated.