First posted on Instagram
Ukrainian drones struck the Novokuybyshevsk Oil Refinery in Russia's Samara region early on Friday, October 30, triggering explosions and a major fire, according to reports. Residents of Novokuybyshevsk reported explosions and air defence activity in the early hours, and the independent Russian outlet ASTRA, using photographs sent in by readers, identified the site of the fire as the refinery. Ukraine's General Staff later said Ukrainian forces had hit the refinery. Samara Governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev said that morning that the region was under attack but gave no details, and regional authorities did not confirm that the refinery itself was targeted.
The refinery belongs to the Russian oil giant Rosneft, which has owned it since 2007, and has an annual processing capacity of about 8.8 million tonnes of crude oil. It produces more than 20 types of petroleum products, including Euro-5 petrol and diesel, bitumen and petroleum coke, as well as jet fuel used by Russia's Aerospace Forces. The plant has been targeted repeatedly in the war, most recently on August 22, when Ukrainian drones struck the facility and caused a fire.
The refinery strike was part of a wider overnight wave. Ukrainian drones also struck the Konservsushprod factory in Starodub, in Russia's Bryansk region, which supplies food rations to the Russian armed forces, according to photos and videos shared by local residents and analysed by ASTRA. Flights at Samara Airport were temporarily restricted because of the drone threat, and Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said 862 drones had flown towards the Moscow region between the evening of October 29 and 7 a.m. on October 30.
The strike marks the first reported attack on a Russian oil refinery in nearly two weeks, according to reports, coming after The Wall Street Journal reported that Ukrainian units had been told in mid-October to suspend refinery strikes. That reported pause was never officially announced, and authorities have not confirmed any link between it and the October 30 fire. The extent of the damage at Novokuybyshevsk is still being assessed.