Lawmakers from several Turkish political parties have jointly called on the government to establish direct transport links between Turkey and Abkhazia and to recognize Abkhaz passports as valid travel documents. According to the Turkish newspaper Jineps Gazetesi, this is the first time such demands have been publicly voiced at the interparty parliamentary level.
Six people were injured in a nighttime drone attack on the Ilsky oil refinery in Russia’s Krasnodar region, the head of the Seversky district, Andrei Cheverev, said. A fire broke out at the facility but had been fully extinguished by midday. Ukraine’s General Staff confirmed that the refinery had been targeted.
The attack took place overnight on August 8 in Seversky district. Russian authorities said a fire broke out at the Ilsky refinery after drone debris fell on the facility. Six people were injured, according to preliminary information, and received medical treatment. Authorities have not disclosed the nature or severity of their injuries.
The Krasnodar region’s operational headquarters later said the fire had been completely extinguished. There was no official information on the extent of damage to the refinery’s equipment or whether the attack had affected its operations.
Ukraine, meanwhile, said the refinery itself had been targeted. Ukraine’s General Staff said Ukrainian forces had attacked the Ilsky refinery in Krasnodar region and the Syzran refinery in Samara region during the night, with fires breaking out at both facilities. It also said Ukrainian forces had struck a technical surveillance post on the Sivash self-elevating drilling platform in the Black Sea, which Kyiv says Russia had used to monitor the surrounding waters.
The extent of the damage to the facilities remains unclear.
The Ilsky refinery is located in the settlement of Ilsky, about 50 kilometers from Krasnodar. It is one of the major oil refineries in southern Russia. According to the company, its six processing units have a combined capacity of 6.6 million tonnes of crude oil per year. The refinery produces, among other things, gas gasoline, fuel oil and distillates, with a significant share of its output intended for export.
The facility has been targeted by drones several times in recent months. On June 2, another drone attack caused a fire at the refinery. Russian authorities reported another fire following a drone debris strike on July 10. Earlier, on the night of July 7, drone debris also fell on the refinery’s grounds, although authorities said at the time that there was no visible damage or fire.
The latest attack came amid one of the largest waves of drone strikes on Russian regions in recent months. Russia’s Defence Ministry initially said that 397 Ukrainian drones had been intercepted overnight over several regions, including Krasnodar region, annexed Crimea and the Sea of Azov. Following additional morning reports, the ministry raised the figure to 480 intercepted drones. The figures have not been independently verified.
The attack on the Ilsky refinery came five days after a drone strike on a beach in Arkhipo-Osipovka near Gelendzhik. According to the latest figures, seven people were killed, including four children, and dozens were injured. Following the incident, Krasnodar region authorities said they had strengthened security measures at resort areas. On the morning of August 8, Gelendzhik’s beaches were temporarily closed to visitors again amid a new drone threat.