In Russia A fire broke out at the Komsomolsk Oil Refinery in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Khabarovsk Krai, on the morning of 11 August, which is owned by the state-owned company Rosneft. Local residents have posted footage showing a large plume of black smoke rising above the site, and the OSINT project ASTRA has pinpointed the location of the fire as being within the refinery grounds.
The factory management later confirmed the incident. According to their account, auxiliary equipment caught fire, and the fire was quickly brought under control. There were no casualties, and it is reported that no levels of harmful substances exceeding the maximum permissible limits were recorded. The company has not yet disclosed the cause of the fire.
A huge plume of smoke rose above the Komsomolsk oil refinery
Residents of Komsomolsk-on-Amur began reporting the fire at around 11.00 local time. Footage circulating on social media shows thick black smoke rising above the industrial area.
Following an analysis of photos and videos, ASTRA reported that the source of the fire is located on the premises RN-Komsomolsk Oil Refinery Ltd«, which is part of Rosneft.
The factory itself subsequently confirmed the fire, but the Russian account describes the incident in much more subdued terms. According to a statement from the company’s press office, the fire broke out at «auxiliary equipment», after which it was quickly extinguished. The Russian side did not specify exactly which equipment was on fire or whether the incident had affected production.
The cause of the fire is as yet unknown
At this stage, there is no confirmation that the fire was caused by an attack by Ukrainian drones. Nor were there any reports of a drone strike on Komsomolsk-on-Amur prior to the fire breaking out.
At the same time, the company is located extremely far from Ukraine — approximately 6,500–6,700 km from the Ukrainian border.
As a result, speculation has already emerged on social media about a possible act of sabotage or an internal accident. However, The theory that it was an act of sabotage has not yet been confirmed by either side, so it is too early to say that this is the established cause of the fire.
Rosneft itself has not yet disclosed the cause of the incident.
The Komsomolsk Oil Refinery processes up to 8.5 million tonnes of crude oil
The Komsomolsk Oil Refinery is one of the key oil refineries in the Russian Far East.
According to official figures from Rosneft, its The design capacity is 8.5 million tonnes of oil per year. The plant produces more than 20 types of petroleum products, including motor petrol, diesel and marine fuel, sulphur and other products.
The company processes, in particular, West Siberian crude oil and feedstock from Sakhalin, and is one of the main suppliers of fuel to Russia’s Far Eastern regions.
The plant was commissioned back in 1942, and in recent decades Rosneft has carried out a large-scale modernisation of it.
The plant has a large hydrocracking complex
One of the most important modernisation projects at the Komsomolsk Oil Refinery is the hydrocracking and hydrotreating complex.
Its design capacity is 3.65 million tonnes per year. The complex is designed, in particular, to increase the production of low-sulphur Euro 5-standard diesel fuel and aviation kerosene.
There have been fires at the Komsomolsk Oil Refinery in the past
This is not the first serious incident at the company.
In April 2025, a major fire also broke out at the Komsomolsk Oil Refinery. It was reported at the time that a process column had caught fire following a petrol leak, and the fire covered an area of around 100 square metres.
Another major fire occurred in March 2019. At the time, the Russian Ministry of Energy cited a loss of pressure in the equipment and a burnout in the process furnace coil as the cause.
At the same time, the fire on 11 August attracted particular attention because it coincided with a series of other incidents at Russian industrial sites. That same morning, drones attacked Orsk Oil Refinery in the Orenburg Region, where the Russian authorities have officially confirmed a drone attack.
In the case of Komsomolsk-on-Amur, the situation is different: The fire has been confirmed, but its cause remains unknown for the time being.
