Overnight, Russia’s Samara Region came under a drone attack. According to the ASTRA channel, the Novokuybyshevsk oil refinery caught fire. It produces missile fuel for the needs of Russia’s armed forces.
Regional governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev reported that the attack had been repelled, but did not specify which facilities were damaged. Local residents said the regional authorities issued a warning only at 6 a.m., when the attack had already been under way for several hours.
Samara Airport is experiencing widespread flight delays: some have been pushed back from the night to as late as the evening.
The Novokuybyshevsk oil refinery is part of the Rosneft group and has a capacity of about 8.8 million tonnes of oil per year. It produces dozens of types of petroleum products, including motor petrol, petroleum coke and bitumen.
This is not the first attack on it: it was previously struck in August, and in April, after an attack, both primary oil processing units, AVT-11 and AVT-9, suspended operations.
- Ukraine suspended attacks on Russian oil refineries for three days after the US president announced an energy truce. However, Russia did not stop its strikes and, soon after the declared ceasefire, launched a large-scale missile attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. After that, President Zelenskyy said the restrictions on strikes were no longer in force.