In a cross-border operation, Ukrainian kamikaze drones operated by the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), the Ukrainian military’s Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR), and the Special Operations Forces (SSO) struck the Lukoil‑Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez oil refinery in the city of Kstovo early Tuesday morning.
Kstovo, a city of about 66,000 inhabitants in Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region, lies approximately 1,104 km (about 686 miles) from Kyiv.
According to HUR sources, the operation involved more than 50 domestically produced drones, including the “Bober” and FP-1 models. The target: a rectification column undergoing repairs, responsible for primary crude-oil processing, which had been left vulnerable after prior hits.
Footage circulating on Russian social networks shows bright flames and explosions lighting up the night sky above the facility, with emergency services mobilized in response.
The Lukoil-Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez plant is a cornerstone of Russia’s energy infrastructure: supplying the Moscow region (which accounts for roughly 30% of the country’s petrol consumption), processing around 17 million tons of crude per year and producing more than 50 different petroleum products – automotive, aviation and diesel fuels, bitumen, paraffin and more. Its output is known to feed Russian military and defense-industrial needs.
On Tuesday Kyiv Post reported that drones hit multiple industrial and energy sites deep inside Russia overnight, causing fires at refineries and petrochemical plants and triggering widespread blackouts in several regions, according to Russian officials.
In the Volgograd region, a fire broke out at the Frolovskaya electrical substation on Monday evening, Nov. 3, following a reported drone attack.
Governor Andrei Bocharov confirmed that debris from a downed UAV caused the blaze. Power outages affected parts of Frolovo and neighboring districts, and a “drone danger” alert was declared across the region.
In the Kursk region, more than 16,000 consumers in Rylsky, Glushkov, and Korenovsky districts were cut off from power after what local governor Alexander Khinshtein described as an “enemy strike” on a substation.
A second substation in the village of Belaya also caught fire, leaving seven settlements without electricity.
Further east, in Bashkortostan, two drones reportedly attacked the Sterlitamak Petrochemical Plant early Tuesday morning, Nov. 4.
Governor Radiy Khabirov said the UAVs were shot down, but debris caused damage and a partial collapse at the facility’s water treatment unit. No casualties were reported.