Russia has again targeted energy infrastructure in southern Ukraine, destroying an oil depot operated by Azerbaijan’s state-owned energy company SOCAR. The strike marks the second attack on the facility in less than a month.

The attack set fire to tanks with a combined capacity of more than 16,000 cubic meters, regional authorities and Azerbaijani media Trend and Minval reported.

Odesa governor Oleh Kiper posted the news on Monday morning, Aug. 18, in his Telegram blog. Kiper wrote that there are no dead or injured.

“Despite the active work of air defense forces, the Odesa district suffered the consequences of the strike. A fire broke out at a fuel and energy infrastructure facility and a two-story building in the suburbs of Odesa. Our rescuers promptly extinguished the powerful blaze, with a Ukrainian Railways fire train involved in the effort,” Kiper wrote.

Ukraine’s consultant in oil and gas Sergiy Kyun wrote in his post that the SOCAR oil depot is “completely destroyed.”

Storage tanks, the pump station building, operator and technical facilities, and the depot’s perimeter fence were all damaged, Azerbaijani media Trend reported. Both Trend and Minval wrote that the oil depot was hit directly multiple times.

Earlier attacks

On Friday, Aug. 8, Russia hit the oil depot with five drones, causing damage to the diesel fuel pipeline.

Four SOCAR employees were seriously injured in a fire sparked by the attack.

That attack had been the second attack on energy infrastructure linked to Azerbaijan that week. It followed another Russian attack on a gas compressor station near Orlivka in the Odesa region on Aug. 6.

The station is part of the newly launched gas corridor, known as the Trans-Balkan route, to help Ukraine alleviate its energy deficit ahead of the 2025-2026 winter season.

President Ilham Aliyev has allocated $2 million in humanitarian aid to Ukraine and could review Baku’s arms embargo on Kyiv if Russian forces continue targeting gas transit facilities.