Home › Security › Drones, oil and alliances: 28 April 2026
Drones, oil and alliances: 28 April 2026
Summary
A look back at a day when the Tuapse fire spread, Ukraine reported record drone interceptions and Moscow deepened its ties with Pyongyang.
What did the war look like on 28 April 2026? Reports from that day and the days before it pointed to a conflict fought largely through drones, energy infrastructure and foreign partnerships.
Fire at Tuapse
On 28 April 2026 the fire at the Tuapse oil terminal in Russia grew larger after the third Ukrainian drone strike on the facility in two weeks. Later, the strikes on the Tuapse refinery and terminal continued until 27 May 2026. They damaged both sites, started large fires and forced operations to be suspended, according to later accounts. The terminal is a major oil export hub. The attacks aimed to reduce Russian oil revenue. At least three people were later reported killed, and there was significant environmental pollution, including black rain and an oil spill.
A record in the air
Also on 28 April 2026, Ukraine reported that it had intercepted more than 33,000 Russian drones in March, the highest monthly total since the start of the full-scale invasion. The figure shows the scale of the aerial campaign Ukraine was facing, at the same time as its own drones were striking targets inside Russia.
Pyongyang and Moscow
On 26 April 2026 Russian defence minister Andrey Belousov and State Duma chairman Vyacheslav Volodin visited Pyongyang. They inaugurated a memorial to North Korean troops who died fighting against Ukraine and negotiated a new defence cooperation agreement. North Korea had backed Russia since 2017, when it recognised the 2014 annexation of Crimea. In July 2022 it recognised the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, and Ukraine then severed diplomatic ties with it.
Zaporizhzhia plant
On 27 April 2026 Russia-installed officials at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant said a worker had been killed in a Ukrainian attack. Russian forces attacked and occupied the plant, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, on 4 March 2022. Ukraine has described the situation as nuclear terrorism by Russia, and the plant remained at the centre of a nuclear safety crisis.
Beyond Ukraine
Russian involvement was also visible in Africa. On 26 April 2026 Malian troops and Russian mercenaries withdrew from Kidal after attacks the previous day, during the 2026 offensives in Mali.
What the day showed
Taken together, these reports from 26 to 28 April 2026 show several strands of the war running at once: Ukrainian long-range strikes on Russian oil infrastructure, a record volume of Russian drones aimed at Ukraine, an incident at an occupied nuclear plant, and Russia consolidating military ties with North Korea.
