Nighttime Drone Attack Targets Major Russian Oil Refinery Near Black Sea, Video

Strike drones hit a Russian oil refinery in the town of Slavyansk-na-Kubani in Russia’s Krasnodar region, according to videos published by the OSINT community Supernova+ on December 17.

Videos circulating online show the moment a drone impacts the facility, followed by multiple explosions. Eyewitness footage also captures a bright glow and flames rising from the refinery site, suggesting a significant fire broke out after the strike.

Reports began appearing on Russian social media channels shortly after 1:20 a.m. local time, with users in Slavyansky District saying explosions had been heard repeatedly since around 12:45 a.m.

By morning, Russia’s Ministry of Defense claimed that air defenses had intercepted and destroyed 31 Ukrainian drones over the Krasnodar region. The statement did not specify how many drones reached their intended targets.

The oil refinery in Slavyansk-na-Kubani is operated by the Russian energy group Slavyansk ECO and has a nominal processing capacity of roughly 5.2 million tons of crude oil per year, though actual throughput in recent years has reportedly been lower.

Earlier, long-range drones from the Security Service of Ukraine’s Alpha Special Operations Center hit oil extraction platforms operated by Lukoil-Nizhnevolzhskneft in the Caspian Sea for the third time within a week.

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