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Ukraine’s Drone Strike Triggers First Major Russian Refinery Shutdown of 2026
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Russia’s Volgograd oil refinery, one of the country’s largest, has suspended oil processing after a Ukrainian drone strike triggered a fire, marking the first major refinery shutdown linked to such attacks since the start of 2026, according to Reuters on February 12.
Two industry sources told Reuters that the Lukoil-owned facility halted processing on February 11 after a blaze damaged a key crude distillation unit, which accounts for about 40% of the refinery’s capacity, or roughly 140,000 barrels per day.
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The plant processed 13.5 million metric tons of oil in 2024—about 5% of total Russian refinery throughput—and produced 6 million tons of diesel and 1.9 million tons of gasoline.
The Moscow Times said the Volgograd plant was the first refinery to stop operations due to drone strikes since late December, when the Novoshakhtinsk refinery in Russia’s Rostov region halted crude intake.
Ukraine’s General Staff confirmed that Ukrainian forces struck the Volgograd refinery overnight on February 11, adding that a fire was recorded at the site and that the scale of damage was being clarified.
Visible fire and thick plumes of smoke rising from the Lukoil refinery in Russia’s Volgograd region are visible in satellite images circulating on open-source platforms that monitor large-scale fires and industrial incidents, with thermal anomalies and smoke columns marking the impact site following the reported strike.
Ukrainian officials said the attack was the first such strike after the collapse of an energy truce, which Kyiv has accused Russia of breaking, framing the refinery hit as a response within the renewed campaign targeting energy infrastructure.
Earlier, it was reported that Ukrainian forces confirmed a drone strike on a Russian oil depot in the Volgograd region, with a fire recorded and damage being assessed at the Zhutovska facility used to supply fuel to Russian units.
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