Kuibyshev Refinery Burns into Second Day Following Ukrainian Retaliatory Drone Strikes

A major fire is burning in the industrial zone of the Kuibyshev Oil Refinery in Russia’s Samara region, OSINT channel Exilenova+ reported on September 23.

This follows a large-scale Ukrainian drone attack on the facility the previous day, which came in response to Russian strikes on Ukrainian civilian facilities.

Residents observed renewed flames at the facility overnight. It currently remains unclear whether the ongoing blaze is the result of a fresh wave of Ukrainian drone strikes or the continuation of the fires sparked during the initial attack on September 22, Exilenova+ wrote.

Exilenova+ also reported that Ukrainian drones swarmed the critical industrial zone in Ufa, Russia, prompting the activation of local air defense systems.

While no direct hits have been recorded so far, the three major oil refineries located in the area actively depressurized their systems to minimize the potential blast impact of a successful strike, according to Exilenova+.

The Rosneft-operated Kuibyshev refinery, one of the largest in the Volga region and a critical supplier of fuel to the Russian military, was heavily targeted in an overnight barrage earlier this week.

Following the initial September 22 strike, satellite imagery confirmed that several fuel tanks in the eastern part of the plant were ablaze, and reports indicated severe damage to the facility’s primary crude distillation units, AVT-4 and AVT-5.

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