May 1, 2026, 7:09 AM EDT

The Black Sea isn’t meant to be this black.

A popular seaside town in Russia has seen oil wash onto its beaches, dark drops of rain and oil soot land on homes, and plumes of thick acrid smoke billow above its red rooftops.

Residents of the usually picturesque Russian resort town of Tuapse were this week warned not to leave the homes or open windows as authorities tackled intense fires from a series of Ukrainian drone attacks on the town’s oil refinery.

The huge blaze was finally extinguished Thursday, the local governor said, though another drone attack hit the town’s sea terminal Friday, sparking a fire.

Tuapse now faces a daunting cleanup operation and a hit to its upcoming tourist season.…