On the night of 3 November, drones attacked the «Slavneft-YANOS» oil refinery in Yaroslavl, Russia. A major fire broke out at the facility, which was witnessed by local residents. The Russian authorities confirmed damage to the refinery’s infrastructure and that two workers had been injured. According to Mikhail Yevraev, Governor of the Yaroslavl Region, 124 drones attacked the region during the night.
- On the night of 2 November, drones attacked the «Slavneft-YANOS» oil refinery in Yaroslavl.
- A major fire broke out at the plant, and the Russian authorities have confirmed damage to the infrastructure.
- The governor reported an attack involving 124 drones and two factory workers who were injured.
- The Yaroslavl Oil Refinery has a capacity of around 15 million tonnes of crude oil per year.
- In September, the Ukrainian military had already targeted the company’s primary processing facilities.
A major fire broke out in Yaroslavl following a drone attack
The first reports of explosions emerged during the night of 3 November. At around 03:18, a drone alert was issued in the Yaroslavl Region, and at 04:47, a missile alert was issued.
Subsequently, local residents began posting photographs and videos of a huge glow over the industrial area of Yaroslavl. The images show thick black smoke and several sources of fire.
The Russian independent publication ASTRA carried out geolocation of the published material and established that the fire broke out on the premises of the «Slavneft-YANOS» oil refinery.
According to ASTRA journalists, the video footage shows at least seven separate fires — five large ones and two smaller ones.
Governor of the Yaroslavl Region Mikhail Evraev confirmed the attack on the facility and reported that Russian air defence and electronic warfare forces had engaged 124 drones during the night.
The Russian authorities have confirmed damage to the oil refinery
According to the governor, the attack caused damage to the infrastructure of the oil refinery. Fire and emergency services are currently at the site.
Two refinery workers sustained shrapnel wounds. They were taken to hospital.
The Russian authorities also reported damage to residential buildings and parked cars. According to Yevraev, debris from the drones shattered windows in several blocks of flats and private houses.
During the attack, traffic was temporarily restricted on the road leading out of Yaroslavl towards Moscow. Traffic was subsequently restored.
«Slavneft-YANOS» supplies fuel to the Russian army
The Yaroslavl Oil Refinery is one of the five largest enterprises in Russia’s oil refining sector. Its design capacity is approximately 15 million tonnes of crude oil per year.
The business is owned by the company «Slavneft», which is jointly controlled by Rosneft and Gazprom Neft.
The plant produces motor petrol, diesel fuel, aviation kerosene, fuel oil, lubricants and other petroleum products. The products are supplied to the central and north-western regions of Russia, in particular the Moscow Region.
According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the company is also involved in supplying the Russian armed forces.
This is not the first attack on «Slavneft-YANOS» in recent months.
On 17 September 2026, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine officially confirmed that the plant had been hit by Ukrainian forces. A fire then broke out at the crude oil processing unit.
According to Reuters, following the September attack, the plant suspended the processing of raw materials due to damage to its equipment. In particular, the AVT-3 unit, which accounted for around 40% of the refinery’s capacity, was damaged.
The impact of the latest attack on 3 November on the plant’s production capacity is currently being assessed.
