Ukrainian drones struck the Syzran oil refinery in Russia’s Samara region – one of the largest in the Rosneft network – early Friday, sparking a large fire, local residents and monitoring channels reported.
The Syzran plant has been repeatedly targeted as part of Ukraine’s campaign against Russia’s oil industry, which funds and fuels Moscow’s war machine.
Ukraine often employs domestically built long-range drones in these attacks. Ukrainian officials have described such strikes as Kyiv’s “long-range sanctions.”
The attack, which began around 2 a.m., was accompanied by multiple explosions and the sounds of air defenses in the southern and western parts of the city.
Video from the scene shows flames lighting up the night sky. Syzran Mayor Sergei Volodchenkov confirmed the strike but gave no further details.
Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed it intercepted nine Ukrainian drones over Samara. Regional authorities have not commented.
The Syzran refinery lies roughly 700 kilometers (430 miles) from the Russia-Ukraine border. It belongs to the state-owned oil company Rosneft and has an annual processing capacity of 8.5 million tons.
The monitoring channel Crimean Wind earlier described the Syzran refinery as “key for the southern Volga region,” with a design capacity of 8-8.5 million tons of oil per year (about 160–170 thousand barrels per day) and recent output of 6-7 million tons.
The facility serves the Samara, Saratov, and Penza regions, as well as parts of Central Russia, and has access to railway and river transport routes for domestic supply and export via the Caspian Sea.
It produces gasoline, diesel, aviation kerosene, fuel oil, and bitumen – critical for the regional agricultural and transport sectors – and also supplies airfields and military units in Russia’s Central and Southern districts.
This is the fourth known attack on the facility, following strikes in 2024 and February 2025. The refinery was previously hit in August, temporarily halting operations.
In a related overnight operation, Ukrainian drones also hit the port of Temryuk in Russia’s Krasnodar region. Authorities reported a fire at a gas terminal and said personnel were evacuated.