Russia’s Giant Ufa Refinery Engulfed in Flames After Drone Strike

Drone strikes triggered fires at the Bashneft-Ufaneftekhim oil refinery in the Russian city of Ufa, Bashkortostan, on August 1.

Videos circulating on social media showed multiple plumes of black smoke rising from the refinery’s industrial area, while regional authorities acknowledged an incident following what they described as a drone attack.

According to Russian officials, Bashkortostan governor Radiy Khabirov said air defenses had “repelled” the attack but that “due to falling debris from a downed unmanned aerial vehicle, smoke occurred on the territory of the industrial zone.”

Open-source monitoring project Exilenova+ published videos and photos showing several apparent fire locations inside the refinery complex. Independent OSINT analysts from Astra geolocated the footage to the Bashneft-Ufaneftekhim refinery, reporting that at least two large columns of smoke were visible above the facility.

Bashneft-Ufaneftekhim is part of Rosneft’s Ufa refining hub, which also includes the Bashneft-Novoil and Bashneft-UNPZ plants. Together, the three refineries have a combined processing capacity of approximately 23.5 million metric tons of crude oil per year, making the complex one of Russia’s largest refining centers.

The Ufaneftekhim refinery itself processes about 8.2 million metric tons of crude annually and produces gasoline, diesel fuel, petroleum coke, liquefied gases, sulfur, and aromatic hydrocarbons. The facility also operates hydrocracking, delayed coking, catalytic cracking, and catalytic reforming units, allowing it to achieve one of the highest refining depths among Russian oil refineries.

The refinery complex is located roughly 1,500 kilometers from Ukraine’s border and has previously been targeted by drone attacks.

Earlier, drone strikes also targeted the Tamanneftegaz oil terminal at Russia’s Port Taman in Krasnodar region, sparking a fire at one of the country’s largest oil export facilities. The terminal, capable of handling nearly 20 million metric tons of cargo annually, is a key hub in Russia’s petroleum export network.

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