Russia Suspended Operations at Largest Oil Port in Black Sea Due to Drone Attacks

Sheshkharis, Russia’s largest oil terminal in the Black Sea, located in Novorossiysk, has suspended the loading of oil tankers due to the threat of attacks by Ukrainian drones.

This was reported by Bloomberg.

The terminal has not loaded tankers since early Tuesday, July 21. Transneft, the company that owns the terminal, did not comment on the reasons for the suspension.

Bloomberg notes that a few days earlier, the nearby Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) terminal, which exports oil from Kazakhstan, also temporarily suspended operations due to Ukrainian drone activity.

The suspension of operations coincided with an intensification of Ukrainian strikes against Russian ships in the Black and Azov Seas.

Since the beginning of 2026, an average of about 650,000 barrels of oil per day have been exported through this terminal.

On July 21 and 22, units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ Unmanned Systems Forces (USF) struck 13 vessels of the Russian shadow fleet in the waters of the Black and Azov Seas.

Overall, on July 22, the commander of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ USF, Robert ‘Madyar’ Brovdi, reported that over the past 17 days, the USF had managed to attack 196 vessels that were illegally transporting oil, fuel, and other cargo in circumvention of international sanctions against Russia.

As part of Operation MoLoChKa, 126 vessels were struck by Ukrainian drones in the Sea of Azov, and 70 in the Black Sea. In addition to tankers, other vessels are also being targeted.

On July 14, the Ukrainian Navy destroyed the FSB Border Service of Russia cruiser Izumrud, a Project 22460 Rubin vessel. The Sargan-3000 maritime drone system was used for the strike.

On July 17 and 18, the Defense Forces attacked two Project 10410 Svetlyak patrol boats in Kerch. The Svetlyak has a displacement of approximately 375 metric tons, a length of 49.5 meters, and a top speed of over 30 knots.

Due to the attacks, the FSB Border Service of Russia informed shipping companies that, as of 6:10 p.m. local time on July 10, 2026, it had suspended the acceptance of applications to transit the Kerch Strait, which connects the Azov and Black Seas.