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Ukrainian Drones Strike Russian Oil Refinery, Sparking Fire
Confirmed
In Short: Independent Russian outlet ASTRA geolocated eyewitness footage to the Ilsky refinery, which is one of the largest oil-processing facilities in southern Russia, producing nearly 6.6 million tons of fuel annually.
Ukrainian drones struck the Ilsky oil refinery in southern Russia's Krasnodar Krai overnight on September 26, causing a fire and casualties, according to local reports and Ukrainian officials.
Residents reported hearing explosions and air defense systems around midnight, with fires breaking out at the refinery and two other businesses in the Seversky District.
The 1st Separate Center of the Unmanned Systems Forces and the 414th Unmanned Systems Brigade, known as 'Madyar's Birds,' carried out the attack, according to Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces.
The refinery has been targeted repeatedly since the start of the full-scale war, with at least 16 strikes reported by June.
Russian forces attacked Ukraine overnight on September 26 with 173 Shahed-type drones, 50 of which were jet-powered, according to the Air Force.
The Ukrainian General Staff confirmed a strike on the Ilsky refinery on June 2 that caused a major fire.
The facility, located roughly 500 kilometers from Ukrainian-controlled territory, is a key supplier of petroleum products in southern Russia.
The attack comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin said every settlement proposal remained on the table, though Moscow was still weighing what served its interests.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on allies to adopt more sanctions on Moscow and pressed for stronger responses to keep the war from spreading further.
In addition to the Ilsky refinery, other targets included the Novoshakhtinsk Refinery, Bashneft-UNPZ, Moscow Oil Refinery, Perm Oil Refinery, Kuibyshev Refinery, and the Iskra plant, which produces electronic components for Russian weapons.
What this adds
The attack on the Ilsky refinery is part of a series of strikes on Russian industrial facilities.
The refinery's capacity and role in supplying fuel to Russian forces were previously reported by WarpBeat.
Background
The General Staff of Ukraine stated that the targeted refinery in Yaroslavl supplies fuel and lubricants to Russian forces and is a major supplier of petroleum products in southern Russia.
The strikes on the oil refineries in Yaroslavl and Perm, as well as the electronics plant in Ulyanovsk, are part of a series of attacks on Russian industrial facilities.
An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where petroleum is transformed and refined into products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, asphalt base, fuel oils, heating oil, kerosene, liquefied petroleum gas and petroleum naphtha.
What's confirmed
- “The Seversky District was attacked by a drone. Sadly, there were casualties… Drone debris damaged a residential building. Fires have also been reported at two businesses in the district,” Kondratyev wrote.
- Krasnodar Krai Governor Veniamin Kondratiev confirmed that drones attacked the Seversky district, where the refinery is located, and claimed there were fatalities and one person seriously injured.
- Russian attacks killed four people in Ukraine, while Ukrainian strikes killed six in Russia and Russian-occupied territory, officials on both sides said on Saturday.
- Moscow-installed regional head Yevgeny Balitsky said Ukrainian strikes overnight into Saturday killed three people in the Russian-occupied part of Zaporizhzhia region, according to Russian state media.
What's still developing
- “According to ASTRA’s analysis of eyewitness footage, the fire is at the A.A. Shamar Ilsky Oil Refinery in the village of the same name in the Seversky District, 50 km [31 miles] from Krasnodar,” it added.
- Russian independent outlet Astra later claimed to have geolocated the attack, pinpointing it to the Ilsky oil refinery.
- Kondratiev said drone debris also damaged a residential building and that fires had broken out at two enterprises in the district.
- Independent Russian outlet ASTRA said its analysis of eyewitness footage showed that one of the fires was at the Ilsky refinery.
- Ukrainian officials said Trump and Zelensky discussed the possibility of trilateral talks involving the United States, Ukraine, and Russia.
- The facility, located roughly 500 kilometers (310 miles) from Ukrainian-controlled territory, is one of the largest oil-processing facilities in southern Russia, producing nearly 6.6 million tons of fuel annually.
- ASTRA subsequently said one of the burning facilities was the Ilsky refinery based on its analysis of footage from the scene.
- The Ilsky refinery operates six primary crude-processing units with a combined capacity of 6.6 million metric tons per year, according to the refinery’s official website.
- For the past five years, The New Voice of Ukraine has been working tirelessly to push back against Russian narratives and defend democracy.
- The outlet geolocated eyewitness footage to the Ilsky refinery in the settlement of the same name, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) southwest of Krasnodar.
- 26, Ukrainian authorities had not publicly claimed responsibility for the latest strike.
- US President Donald Trump on Sunday asked Ukraine to stop hitting Russian diesel refineries, blaming the attacks for creating a diesel shortage that he said was “hurting the world”.