At night on November 12, 2026, at approximately 05:30, a Russian unmanned aerial vehicle struck the Bandurka Oil Extraction Plant of the Kernel agricultural holding in the village of Bandurka, Pervomaisk district, Mykolaiv region. This was reported by RBC-Ukraine citing a statement from the State Ecological Inspection of the Southwestern District. According to the agency, as a result of the hit, four tanks containing 8.5 thousand tons of sunflower oil were damaged, and one of the reservoirs with a volume of 3 thousand cubic meters was completely destroyed.
Nature of Damage and Scale of the Spill
According to the ecological inspection, the damage to the protective bunding led to the sunflower oil spilling onto the adjacent land plot. Right at the scene, specialists established that the contamination area exceeds 3.5 thousand square meters. At the same time, according to the agency's information, there is no threat to the residential buildings of the settlement. Inspectors took soil samples for subsequent laboratory tests, which will determine the exact composition and degree of soil contamination.
Environmental Monitoring and Threat to Water Bodies
At the time of the inspection, no direct entry of the spilled oil into the Chornyi Tashlyk river, flowing near the enterprise, was recorded on the territory of the plant. Nevertheless, as the ecological inspection notes, water bodies represent the priority risk if the spill continues. To prevent the spread of contamination to the river and other water bodies, active pumping of sunflower oil and the construction of additional earthen barriers are underway on the plant's territory. After receiving the results of laboratory expertise, specialists will calculate the total volume of environmental and material damage caused.
Context: Systematic Strikes on the Food Industry
The attack on the Bandurka plant became another episode in a series of massive Russian strikes against Ukraine's food industry enterprises. Earlier, Kernel decided to suspend the operation of all its oil extraction plants precisely because of ongoing attacks on industry facilities. Concurrently, the KorolivskyiСмаk company announced the cessation of production and the suspension of oilseed procurement, citing power supply interruptions and direct military threats to infrastructure.
What's Next
While the results of laboratory tests of soil samples have not been published, the exact assessment of environmental damage remains preliminary. Emergency measures to localize the spill — pumping out oil and erecting additional earthen dams — continue on the plant's territory. The final calculation of the damage caused, according to specialists, will be made exclusively after the completion of the expertise.
