28 April 2026

2026-04-28 | UPDATES #186 | Tuapse burns – a third wave of strikes has reignited earlier fires and started new ones. Now the flames are burning out of control and may consume the whole plant. This is a major strategic and psychological blow for Putin and his war economy. In this episode – Budanov’s doctrine and the end of the ‘no cards’ lie.

April 27–28, 2026 — as Tuapse oil refinery and port burns for the third time in twelve days. It is just after 2 AM on the night of 27th to 28th April 2026, on the Black Sea coast. Above the Russian port city of Tuapse — population thirty-five thousand, one of the most strategically important oil export hubs Russia possesses — the air is filled with the sound of more than a dozen consecutive explosions.

By dawn, 164 Russian firefighters with 46 fire appliances are battling what Krasnodar Krai’s governor describes as “a major fire at the oil refinery.” Residents of the streets nearest the burning Rosneft facility are being evacuated. School Number 6 in Tuapse has been opened as a temporary accommodation centre. Drone groups, eyewitnesses report, came in low across the sea before striking both the maritime terminal and the refinery itself.