Ukrainian Drones Strike Sevastopol Museum and Russian Oil Refinery
Al Jazeera Staff
Ukrainian drones damaged a historic Sevastopol museum, killed a railway worker, and forced Crimea to cut overnight train services and ration fuel. The attacks also targeted a Russian oil refinery and triggered fire at multiple industrial sites.
Ukrainian drones attacked a historic museum in Sevastopol, Crimea, causing a rooftop fire, while Russian authorities reduced overnight train schedules amid escalating airstrikes across the peninsula and deep inside Russian territory.
Moscow-appointed Sevastopol Governor Mikhail Razvozhayev reported the damage on Telegram Wednesday. “A UAV damaged the building of the panoramic painting 'Defense of Sevastopol 1854–1855,' the roof is on fire. This building is not just a museum; it is a symbol of resilience, which has repeatedly been hit by enemy attacks,” he said.
The museum commemorates Russia’s 1853–1856 Crimean War against an alliance including the Ottoman Empire. Razvozhayev noted that during the World War II Siege of Sevastopol, “the panoramic building was heavily bombed by German aircraft.”
Rescue teams, including Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry and Sevastopol rescue services, extinguished the blaze. Crimea’s administration also cut overnight train services after a Monday drone attack injured a train driver and killed his assistant. Crimea Governor Sergei Aksyonov confirmed on Telegram that a drone struck passenger train No. 68 Moscow–Simferopol, hitting the locomotive. “The assistant driver was killed and the driver injured. Passengers were not hurt,” Aksyonov said. Eight passenger trains were halted, and all passengers were evacuated by bus to Simferopol and Sevastopol.
The Black Sea peninsula, annexed by Russia from Ukraine in 2014, faces fuel shortages after recent Ukrainian drone strikes at the start of the tourist season. Local reports indicate unrestricted commercial gasoline sales to civilians have been suspended across the peninsula. Fuel is now strictly distributed, reserved for emergency services or accessible only through state-issued vouchers.
Russia’s Defense Ministry reported that air defense systems destroyed 326 Ukrainian drones across Russia, with more than a dozen heading toward Moscow. In Novokuibyshevsk, Samara’s oil hub, regional governors said authorities repelled drone attacks. Russian OSINT channel Astra confirmed that the Kuibyshevsk oil refinery caught fire after at least 29 drones struck. In the Rostov region bordering Ukraine, drone debris sparked a fuel tank fire at a civilian site. In central Vladimir region, two industrial facilities burned. Rare air raid warnings were issued in distant oil-producing regions such as Khanty-Mansiysk, Perm, and Tyumen, along with the industrial Urals regions of Chelyabinsk and Sverdlovsk.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy proposed direct negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week, but the Russian leader rejected the offer. After the train incident, the Kremlin accused Ukraine of undermining peaceful resolution efforts.
