Russian oil base under siege: Ukrainian drones ignite chaos

Bringing in the holy icon, prayers from two priests, and the efforts of 500 firefighters, aircraft, and a firefighting train didn’t help. After five days, just as the Russians extinguished several tanks at the oil base in the Rostov region, more Ukrainian drones flew in.

"What an explosion. I felt the heat even here. Did you feel it? Are there any boys there? Pull back, vehicles, move back!" says one of the Russian firefighters in a new recording documenting the action of extinguishing tanks filled with oil and fuels in Proletarsk. He stands several hundred yards from the fire and utters a string of curses as another tank explodes.

Another recording from August 21 shows the Russian Telegram channel "This is Rostov" documenting firefighters trying to escape with a fire truck through an alley between the tanks. One of the tanks explodes. "What heat. Sania, let’s get out of here, let’s get out of here!" a firefighter shouts. The driver floors the gas pedal, and an orange glow appears in the cab from the flames raging nearby. Another film shows the truck and the people breaking out of the trap and driving onto an empty field.

The nightmare for the Russians doesn't end there. On Thursday, the TASS agency reported six tanks were extinguished. Ukraine renewed its drone attack on the base at dawn. Reports about it appeared on Telegram on Friday. There were no reports of casualties from the attack. Instead, more videos of erupting flames were published, again with a litany of curses heard in the background, likely directed at Ukrainians.

On August 18, the fire began after Ukrainian drones targeting the tanks were shot down. The base was shrouded in black smoke, and according to analysts, 22 out of more than 40 tanks caught fire. During the multi-day firefighting operation, 47 workers from the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations were injured, 15 of whom were hospitalized, reported the Russian agency TASS.

According to firefighter Władysław Gonczarow’s account, firefighting equipment belonging to the local units burned in the operation. Gonczarow appealed for fundraising on the internet, which didn’t please the authorities.

"If not for the war, Russia could count on the arrival and help of foreign teams. The fire is being watched by industry experts from around the world, including in Poland. Such incidents are used to draw conclusions about securing one's own facilities," comments Gen. Brigadier Wiesław Leśniakiewicz, former chief commander of the State Fire Service.

The fire in Proletarsk is a result of the Ukrainian offensive that has been ongoing throughout this year, targeting refineries and fuel bases with drones. We show the scale of this on the infographic. On Thursday, after a Ukrainian attack near the Kerch Strait, the Russian ferry "Aquatrader" carrying rail tankers with fuel caught fire and sank.

On August 21 in the afternoon, near Olenia military airport in the Murmansk region (in the north of Russia), for the first time since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a drone was shot down—a modified aircraft. If it was launched from Ukraine, it would be a record (1,243 miles) flight length over Russia. This event suggests that the hunt for refineries will cover new areas.

"Ukraine undertakes these attacks to paralyze logistics as Putin’s war machine needs constant supplies of vast amounts of fuel," comments Wojciech Jakóbik, Polish energy sector analyst and founder of the Center for Energy Security, in a conversation with WP. He points out that Proletarsk is important because it is used to back up the front and the offensive in eastern Ukraine.

"Hitting the oil sector aims to create fuel shortages at the front but not only that. By damaging refineries and other installations, it reduces the profits of Russian companies from fuel sales. This way, the attacks increase the effects of the sanctions imposed on Russia," adds the WP interlocutor.

He points out that Russia has been forced to introduce an embargo on gasoline exports, meaning there was a fuel shortage on the domestic market. Russian media also reported the threat of rail paralysis, which had to urgently deal with transporting raw materials to undamaged refineries for fuel production.

According to Wojciech Jakóbik, the most painful for Russia is the attacks on refineries because their repair is costly and time-consuming, followed by bases storing fuels and raw materials. In the spring of 2024, after a series of drone strikes, Ukraine managed to shut down 7% of Russian refinery capacities, as estimated by experts from the magazine "Forbes."