Ukrainian drones target key US-linked oil hub in Russia – Defense Ministry

Infrastructure damaged in the port of Novorossiysk is operated by the partly US corporate-owned Caspian Pipeline Consortium

Ukrainian drones have attacked the oil infrastructure of the Russian port of Novorossiysk, which is operated by the internationally-owned Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), the Defense Ministry in Moscow has reported. The CPC crude shipment hub on the Black Sea shore has been repeatedly targeted in suspected Ukrainian UAV strikes in recent months, prompting condemnation from Kazakhstan and the US.

The consortium ships oil from Kazakhstan through the Caspian Pipeline to a marine terminal in Novorossiysk, where it is loaded onto tankers bound for Europe and Asia. Among the CPC shareholders are major energy companies from Russia, Kazakhstan, several Western European countries and the US, including Chevron and ExxonMobil.

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On Monday, the Russian Defense Ministry stated that overnight, “the Kiev regime conducted an attack on facilities at the marine transshipment complex in Novorossiysk, involving fixed-wing strike UAVs.” According to the statement, the strike was aimed at “destabilizing the global hydrocarbon market and stopping deliveries of oil products to European consumers.”

The latest attack also sought to “inflict maximum economic damage on the largest [CPC] shareholders – energy companies from Kazakhstan and the US.”

No casualties have been reported, but an unloading berth and four tanks were damaged.

Last November, the CPC’s office in Novorossiysk and one of the berths at its marine terminal were struck by suspected Ukrainian drones. The company stated at the time that it was the third act of aggression against a civilian facility protected under international law since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022. In February 2025, UAVs targeted the consortium-operated Kropotkinskaya oil pumping station.

Following the November attack, Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry lodged an official protest with Ukraine.

In February, Ukrainian Ambassador to the US Olga Stefanishina revealed that Washington had similarly filed a formal demarche with Kiev over the strike, in which “American economic interest was affected.”

In recent months, Ukraine has intensified its strikes on Russia’s oil infrastructure including refineries, pipelines, and terminals in an effort to disrupt the country’s ability to export crude. Moscow has accused Kiev of resorting to terrorist tactics and inflicting damage to third parties not involved in the conflict between the two nations.