Ukraine Strikes Sheskharis Oil Terminal and Grushovaya Depot in Novorossiysk — Shadow-Fleet Tanker Also Hit

On May 23, 2026, Ukraine's General Staff confirmed a major long-range drone strike on Russia's Sheskharis oil terminal and the Grushovaya oil depot in Novorossiysk, Russia's largest Black Sea crude oil export hub handling approximately 75 million tons of crude per year (~20% of Russia's total crude exports). Fires broke out at both facilities; two people were wounded. Ukraine also struck a shadow-fleet tanker named 'Chrysalis' docked in the port. The Novorossiysk port is a critical node in Russia's war-finance energy chain, channeling crude revenues that fund the Russian military budget. The strike represented one of the deepest and most consequential attacks on Russian energy infrastructure of the war, coming just days after Ukraine's March 2026 campaign devastated Baltic oil export terminals. Russia's state RIA Novosti acknowledged the fires. Fortune reported the strike targeted one of Russia's most strategically important energy export chokepoints.