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Russian Oil Refinery Recruits Anti-Aircraft Gun Crews to Defend Against Ukrainian Drones
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Russia’s Kuibyshev oil refinery in Samara posted vacancies for crews to operate anti-aircraft and armored vehicles protecting the facility from drone attacks, according to Verstka on October 9.
The outlet reported that the Rosneft-owned refinery listed the positions on HeadHunter on October 8. The vacancies sought personnel for a ZSU-23-4 Shilka self-propelled anti-aircraft gun and a BMP-2 Berezhok infantry fighting vehicle.
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Applicants were required to sign contracts with Russia’s Ministry of Defense to join the mobilization manpower reserve, complete specialist training, and undergo combat coordination. One vacancy required recruits to "serve as part of a BMP crew in barracks mode during training periods."
The duties included protecting defense-industrial facilities in the Samara region, destroying aerial targets, maintaining weapons readiness, and keeping the combat vehicle operational. The listed workplace was 25 Groznenskaya Street, the address of the Kuibyshev refinery.
Both listings have since been removed from HeadHunter search results and moved to the archive. Direct links indicate that the employer may have already selected candidates and is no longer accepting applications.
The ZSU-23-4 Shilka is a Soviet-designed tracked air-defense system armed with four 23 mm automatic cannons. Originally developed to engage low-flying aircraft and helicopters, such systems can also be used against drones operating within their engagement envelope.
The BMP-2 Berezhok is an upgraded infantry fighting vehicle fitted with a modernized combat module. In the refinery role described by the vacancy, its weapons would form part of a local defensive force protecting the industrial site.
The vacancies follow a recent strike on the same facility, which was hit in an overnight Ukrainian drone attack on September 22 that sparked a fire at the site.
Analysis of eyewitness footage preliminarily identified the refinery's AVT-5 processing unit as one of the targets, with several other fires observed across its territory. Part of Rosneft's Samara refining group alongside the Novokuibyshevsk and Syzran plants, the facility processed 4.7 million tons of crude in 2024, roughly 94,400 barrels per day.
That attack came a day after Ukrainian drones struck the Bashneft refinery complex in Ufa, about 1,600 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.
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