The deadly ‘black rain’ attacks on Putin’s most important industry

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Ukraine is scaling up its spectacular “black rain” attacks on oil sites deep inside Russia – sites that are critical to Vladimir Putin’s war machine.

Long-range drone strikes have caused apocalyptic scenes at energy sites across the country, sending skyward towering plumes of smoke that are visible from space, and bringing carcinogenic rain and poisonous sludge to Russian towns and tourist resorts.

The attacks show a change in Ukrainian tactics as Kyiv aims to bring the war home to Russia by ramping up attacks on the infrastructure propping up its war. Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, has said Russia has lost at least $7bn (£5bn) since the start of the year thanks to the attacks on its oil sector.

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Toxic rain is blanketing towns

Ukrainian attacks on Russia and Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine have been rising since February. On Friday, Ukraine’s security service said it had hit a refinery in the city of Perm in the Urals, 900 miles from the border, for the second day in a row. This was the third such strike ⁠in the last ​nine ⁠days.

On Russia’s Black Sea coast, residents in Tuapse, a port town of 60,000 people nearly 300 miles from the front line, endured a fourth attack in just two weeks on the Rosneft-owned refinery and port.

Videos geolocated by The i Paper show enormous fires and clouds of black smoke rising from the refinery, which processes 12 million metric tons of crude a year and is a key export hub.

A Russian new outlet reported that at least two storage tanks had caught fire, with the blaze lasting for days.

Locals complained of widespread black rain that doused streets, cars, pets and people, leaving an oily gray film. Some described on local Telegram groups oily black droplets appearing on their clothes and skin, while others reported a smell of chemicals and burnt rubber. Photos and videos showed oil spilling into the waterways and oil-covered dead birds and fish.

The governor of Krasnodar, which includes Tuapse, posted a video of an official describing how boiling oil products had spilled into the street and damaged cars.

This photograph shows an oil spill in the river following a recent drone attack on the Tuapse oil refinery in Tuapse, Krasnodar region on April 29, 2026, amid the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian conflict. (Photo by AFP via Getty Images)
An oil spill in the river following a drone attack on the Tuapse oil refinery in Krasnodar region on 29 April (Photo: AFP)

The black rain is a mixture of soot, ultrafine particles and highly toxic carcinogens including benzene and toluene, according to Russian environmentalist Alexander Emelyanov. “When high-sulphur oil burns in the atmosphere, acids — sulphuric and nitric — are formed, effectively turning the rain acidic,” he said.

For humans, this can cause respiratory irritation, coughing and burns to the skin and mucous membranes. Long term, it increases the risk of cancer and neurological disorders.

A satellite image shows smoke rising from an oil pumping station, following a Ukrainian drone attack, amid Russia-Ukraine conflict, in Perm, Russia, May 7, 2026. EUROPEAN UNION/COPERNICUS SENTINEL-2/Handout via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY CREDIT. BRST QUALITY AVAILABLE. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
A satellite image shows smoke rising from an oil pumping station in Perm, following a Ukrainian drone attack on 7 May (Photo: European Union Copernicus Sentinel-2/Reuters)

‘A psychological attack’

Krasnodar’s governor, Veniamin Kondratiev, sought to play down the extent of Ukraine’s attacks, while accusing it of a new “insidious, innovative tactic” of attaching extra fuel tanks to drones to increase the size of the blaze. Kondratiev claimed that there had been “no serious strikes” and they were purely psychological, staged for the camera, resulting in only “some pockets of smoke and localised fires”.

The evidence suggested otherwise.

Tuapse and nearby villages along the Black Sea coast are popular holiday destinations for Russian tourists in the summer.

Now, the terrifying spectacle of enormous columns of black smoke is bringing the war home to many ordinary Russians. The appearance of toxic rain and oil spills are a jarring sight for locals and holidaymakers who have so far been largely insulated from the war in Ukraine.

FILE - In this image taken from a video released by Gov. Veniamin Kondratyev's Telegram channel, Kondratyev, 2nd right, inspects the aftermath of a drone attack on the oil refinery and terminal in Tuapse, Russia, on Wednesday, April 29, 2026. (Gov. Veniamin Kondratyev Telegram channel via AP, File)
Veniamin Kondratiev, the governor of Krasnodar, in the aftermath of a drone attack on Tuapse at the end of April (Photo: Veniamin Kondratyev Telegram/AP)

The strikes come at a time when the Kremlin is under pressure not only due to high-profile Ukrainian attacks, including the assassinations of senior military officers, but also from an increasingly discontented public.

“Ukrainian attacks on Russia are very concerning for Russians who have been isolated from the war,” said John Kennedy, research leader at Rand Europe. “Ukraine has successfully taken the fight to Russian soil – starting with the invasion of Kursk, progressing through attacks on military and energy infrastructure – and holding the Victory Parade at risk.”

In Russia there have been growing, albeit limited, public signs of opposition to the war and outright anger over internet restrictions. State pollsters are showing record-low approval levels for Putin of 65.6 per cent, down 12 percentage points since the start of 2026.

A worker cleans the river of petroleum products following a spill caused by a recent drone attack on the Tuapse oil refinery in Tuapse, Krasnodar region on April 29, 2026, amid the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian conflict. (Photo by AFP via Getty Images)
A worker trying to clean the river of petroleum products in Tuapse following the ‘black rain’ (Photo: AFP)

“There has been a noticeable downturn in the mood on Russia’s domestic scene over April and early May,” Kennedy told The i Paper. “There is clearly growing recognition that the future is bleak under Putin. The demographic outlook also continues to deteriorate.

“We may even be seeing signs that some around the Kremlin are looking for ways out, including by fleeing the country. Meanwhile, Putin has been seen in public less and less, and Russia has not been able to deter Ukrainian strikes.”

How Ukraine is changing tactics

Ukraine’s campaign against Russian energy infrastructure represents a ramping up of efforts to damage Russia’s war machine.

Last month, Kyiv doubled strikes on Russian oil infrastructure – including refineries, export terminals, Baltic Sea ports and sanctioned tankers – compared with the monthly average in the previous three months, according to the ACLED global conflict monitor.

“This is definitely a sustained campaign that reflects both a change in tactics and the availability of an increasing number of long-range strike weapons, principally one-way attack UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] but also, increasingly, domestically produced cruise missiles,” Jacob Parakilas, research leader in defence and security at Rand Europe, told The i Paper.

Ukraine has stepped up efforts to secure its own longer-range capabilities after the slow roll out of longer-range Western weapons for Ukrainian use.

“The Ukraine defence industry has spun up, especially in the last year, following the inadequacy and unpredictability of weapons supply from its allies,” Parakilas said. “The Ukrainians have determined that the war will not simply be won on the battlefield. They have to create a strategic effect and the way they have chosen to do this is by targeting the Russian export infrastructure, because that’s the underpinning of the Russian economy.”

This approach has become increasingly urgent thanks to spiralling energy prices worldwide, caused by the war in Iran and the US decision to ease sanctions on Russia, which have boosted the Kremlin’s profits. This week, Russia’s finance ministry claimed that oil and gas revenues doubled from March to April.

“If they [Ukraine] can damage Russia’s physical ability to export its own oil they can limit the extent to which Russia can profit on the increased price,” Parakilas said.

FILE PHOTO: Fire and smoke rise at the Tuapse oil refinery near the Tuapse port, following a Ukrainian drone attack, according to Russian officials, in Tuapse, Krasnodar Krai, Russia, in this screengrab obtained from a social media video released on April 20, 2026. SOCIAL MEDIA/via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES. NEWS USE ONLY. VERIFICATION: - Reuters was able to confirm the location from the position of buildings and road layout, which matched the file and satellite imagery of the area. - Date not verified, but local governor Veniamin Kondratiev said on Monday (April 20) that one man has died and another has been injured in a "massive" Ukrainian drone attack on Russia's Black Sea port of Tuapse. - NASA FIRMS (NASA's Global Fire Tracking Map) detected thermal activity in the area in the past 24 hours. No older version of the video was found posted online before April 20./File Photo/File Photo
Fire and smoke at the Tuapse oil refinery, from a social media video posted on 20 April (Photo: Reuters)

Ukrainian strikes could make a significant dent in Russia’s petrochemical earnings, according to ACLED.

Analysts suggested that an increase in strikes on Russian Baltic ports in late March erased two thirds of Russia’s weekly oil revenue. Ukraine’s General Staff claimed that its April and May strikes on Tuapse had caused more than $300m (£220m) in direct damage, alongside significant economic losses due to lost export revenue and disruptions to energy operations.

And with Russia’s economy facing a worsening trajectory “sustained attacks on the country’s energy infrastructure will be of grave concern to the Kremlin and the public more generally,” Kennedy said.

“The Ukrainians understand that increasing attacks on Russian soil – in addition to the mounting Russian losses at the front – are the ultimate way to put pressure on the Kremlin.”

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