On the night of 7 November, Ukrainian strike drones attacked the Saratov oil refinery in Russia. Local residents reported explosions, whilst monitoring channels released footage of a massive fire in the vicinity of the plant. According to preliminary reports, several fires broke out on the refinery’s premises. The extent of the damage and the impact of the attack on the refinery’s operations are currently being assessed.
- On the night of 7 November, drones attacked the Saratov oil refinery in Russia.
- Monitoring channels have published footage of a fire in the industrial area.
- The plant has a production capacity of around 7 million tonnes of oil per year.
- The plant produces petrol, diesel fuel and products for military logistics.
Reports of explosions and a fire at an oil refinery have emerged in Saratov
The first reports of the attack emerged during the night of 7 November. The monitoring channel Exilenova+ published video recordings from various parts of Saratov, showing the glow over the industrial area. According to the channel, strike drones belonging to the Ukrainian Defence Forces attacked a local oil refinery.
Some of the footage shows a bright glow and plumes of smoke in the vicinity of the plant. However, it is not yet possible to independently determine from these video recordings the number of hits, the exact location of all the fire outbreaks, or the nature of the damage to the plant’s equipment.
The Kyiv Independent also reported on the night-time attack. According to the publication, the strikes on targets in the Saratov Oblast coincided with reports of explosions and fires in other Russian regions.
The Saratov Oil Refinery can process up to 7 million tonnes of crude oil a year
Saratov Oil Refinery It is part of the Russian company «Rosneft» and is one of the major enterprises in the Volga region’s oil refining industry. Its design capacity is approximately 7 million tonnes of crude oil per year, which accounts for around 2–3 per cent of Russia’s total oil refining capacity.
The company produces AI-92 and AI-95 motor petrol, diesel and marine fuel, road and roofing bitumen, technical sulphur and other petroleum products. Some of the products are used to support Russian military logistics.
According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the plant is involved in supplying fuel and lubricants to the Russian armed forces. Of particular significance is the production of diesel fuel, which is used by motor vehicles and armoured vehicles.
The Saratov oil refinery has already come under attack from Ukraine on several occasions
This is not the first reported attack on the company in 2026. In particular, on 11 September, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine confirmed Damage to the Saratov Oil Refinery, following which fires broke out on the factory premises.
Subsequently, the Ukrainian command clarified that an ELZU-AVT-6 crude oil primary processing unit and a section of the main pipeline had been damaged at that time. Other strikes on this facility had also been reported previously.
The new attack took place against the backdrop of ongoing Ukrainian operations against Russian oil refining infrastructure. The day before, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine would continue to strike at the Russian oil industry in response to the Russian Federation’s attacks on the Ukrainian power grid.
At the time of writing, no official assessment of the damage to the Saratov Oil Refinery following the attack on 7 November had been published.
