Ukrainian drones hit the Tuapse Black Sea oil port, Russian officials said, causing a fire and at least one death in the second attack on one of the country's major southern ports in the past week.
"Tuapse came under another massive drone attack," Venyamin Kondratiev, governor of Russia's southern Krasnodar region, said on April 20.
Ukraine's drone forces commander Robert Brovdi confirmed that the Ukrainian military targeted the Rosneft-operated Tuapse oil refinery again, just hours after a blaze from a similar attack on April 16 was extinguished.
The refinery, which can process around 240,000 barrels of crude oil per day and supplies products such as fuel oil and diesel, is part of Russia's oil giant Rosneft's export infrastructure and has been repeatedly targeted in Ukrainian strikes in recent months.
Meanwhile, Russia's Defense Ministry said 112 Ukrainian drones were destroyed over the country overnight on April 20.
Ukraine has stepped up drone attacks on Russian oil facilities in recent weeks, curtailing exports and hampering Moscow's capacity to take advantage of a spike in global energy prices prompted by the Iran war and Tehran's effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Earlier this month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine had proposed an energy cease-fire to Russia.
"If Russia is ready to stop strikes on our energy infrastructure, we will be ready to respond in kind," Zelenskyy posted on April 6.
Meanwhile, in a separate attack, Ukrainian special forces struck two large Russian landing ships in Sevastopol Bay in the Russia-annexed Crimea, disabling both vessels, Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) said on April 20.
During the same operation, a Russian radar system was also destroyed, HUR said in a post on Facebook along with the video showing the moment of the attack.
The Ukrainian Air Force reported on April 20 that Russian forces carried out an attack using 142 drones overnight.
"Russian drones continue to attack civilian vehicles in the Sumy region," the regional governor said in a post on Telegram, adding that at least three poeple were injured.
Six people were injured in the Dnipropetrovsk region as a result of Russian attacks, Ukraine's State Emergency Service reported on April 20.
US-backed negotiations to end Russia's war in Ukraine -- now in its fifth year -- have stalled as Washington shifts its attention to the war in Iran.
Russia has shown no indication of softening its hardline demands on Ukrainian territory and security guarantees, which Kyiv has said are unacceptable.
