BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 18. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has commented on the Russian attack on SOCAR’s oil depot in Odesa.
“This was a deliberate Russian strike on an energy facility in Odesa owned by an Azerbaijani company. In other words, it was an attack on our relations and on energy independence,” Zelenskyy wrote on his Telegram channel.
On the night of August 18, 2025, the SOCAR oil depot in Odesa was hit by a massive strike from Russian “Shahed” drones.
The attack caused multiple direct hits and sparked a fire. Storage tanks, the pump station building, operator and technical rooms, as well as the depot’s fencing, were damaged. The depot’s total storage capacity exceeds 16,000 cubic meters. Experts are currently assessing the full extent of the damage, and urgent repair work is underway.
This marks the second major attack on the facility. On August 8, around ten drones struck the same depot, causing partial destruction. A criminal investigation has been launched in connection with the incidents.