ILSKY – A fire at the Ilsky oil refinery in Russia’s southern Krasnodar Region has been brought under control after debris from a Ukrainian drone fell on the facility, according to local authorities.
The incident was reported as Ukraine carried out overnight drone strikes against energy infrastructure in several parts of Russia.
Ukraine’s General Staff said its forces had targeted two oil refineries during the overnight attacks. The facilities were identified as the Ilsky refinery in Krasnodar Region and the Syzran refinery in Russia’s Samara Region.
According to the Ukrainian military, the strikes caused fires at both facilities.
The authorities in Krasnodar Region said the fire at the Ilsky refinery was caused by debris from a Ukrainian drone. The blaze was later extinguished, although officials did not provide further details about the extent of any damage.
The Syzran refinery is located considerably further north in Samara Region. The region’s governor, Vyacheslav Fedorishchev, confirmed that drones had targeted an industrial facility but did not identify the site as an oil refinery.
Reports of the strike on the Syzran facility said a fire had broken out following the attack. However, details about the damage and the operational impact were not immediately clear.
The two refineries are significant parts of Russia’s oil-processing infrastructure. The Ilsky oil refinery has a designed processing capacity of more than 6 million metric tonnes of crude oil a year. The Syzran refinery is capable of processing approximately 8.5 million tonnes annually.
Ukraine has increasingly targeted Russian energy infrastructure as part of its campaign against facilities that it says contribute to Moscow’s ability to sustain its military operations.
Kyiv has previously said that attacks on refineries and other energy-related facilities are intended to reduce Russia’s ability to generate resources that can be used to finance the war.
The latest attacks came amid a wider wave of Ukrainian drone activity inside Russia.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said its air defence systems had destroyed 397 Ukrainian drones over several Russian regions during the overnight period.
The ministry did not provide a breakdown of where all the drones were intercepted or destroyed. It also did not immediately give details of possible damage caused by the reported attacks.
The strikes highlight the continuing reach of Ukraine’s long-range drone campaign, which has targeted military, industrial and energy-related sites deep inside Russian territory.
Ukrainian forces have repeatedly carried out attacks on infrastructure in Russia and in territories occupied by Russia since the full-scale war began.
Kyiv has argued that such operations are aimed at weakening Russia’s military capabilities and limiting the resources available to continue its war effort.
Other recent incidents have also involved Russian industrial and logistics facilities.
On August 7, Ukrainian forces reportedly struck a logistics centre belonging to Russian e-commerce company Wildberries in Yekaterinburg, according to the independent Russian outlet Astra.
Another Wildberries warehouse in Tula Region was reportedly targeted by Ukrainian drones overnight on August 5, with local authorities confirming an attack on a warehouse.
The incidents involving commercial facilities were separate from the reported attacks on the Ilsky and Syzran refineries.
The latest refinery strikes could nevertheless have wider significance because oil-processing facilities play an important role in Russia’s domestic fuel supply and energy industry.
Any prolonged disruption at major refineries could affect production, although the immediate consequences of the reported attacks were not clear.
Russian and Ukrainian authorities have provided differing accounts of events throughout the conflict, and information from active combat zones and areas affected by drone attacks can be difficult to verify independently.
The reports surrounding the latest refinery attacks could not be independently verified. The reported strikes come as both sides continue to use drones extensively against targets well beyond the immediate front lines.
Russia has also regularly launched drone and missile attacks against Ukrainian infrastructure, while Ukraine has sought to strike military and industrial targets inside Russia.
With the conflict continuing, energy infrastructure remains one of the areas increasingly affected by long-range attacks from both sides.
