Drones Cause Fires at Syzran and Ilsky Oil Refineries

Strike drones of the Ukrainian Defense Forces attacked the Syzran and Ilsky oil refineries.

A video showing the fire at the refinery was published by Exilenova+.

The attack took place on the night of August 7–8, 2026, resulting in a fire breaking out on the refinery grounds.

Reports of the attack on the Syzran Oil Refinery began coming in around 3:00 a.m. From 1:30 to 2:30 a.m., drones were detected in the Samara region, and at 2:31 a.m., a drone alert was issued in the city of Syzran.

From 2:41 to 3:45 a.m., the monitoring Telegram channel Radar Syzran reported approximately 30 explosions heard in the city.

Syzran Oil Refinery pic.twitter.com/9RS98lq4pP

— Exilenova+ (@Exilenova_plus) August 8, 2026

Later, photos and videos of a fire on the plant’s grounds began circulating online. NASA’s FIRMS monitoring service detected a fire on the plant’s grounds at 3:07 a.m. at the coordinates 53.07796210082914, 48.394046778312116.

In addition to the Syzran Oil Refinery, a plant in the Krasnodar Krai was also hit.

According to a report from “Operational Headquarters—Krasnodar Krai”, a fire broke out at the Ilsky Oil Refinery due to falling drone debris.

The Syzran and Ilsky Oil Refineries

The Syzran Oil Refinery is part of Rosneft.

The plant processes between 8.5 and 8.9 million metric tons of crude oil per year, accounting for more than 3% of Russia’s total output. Its products include automotive gasoline, diesel fuel (K5/Euro-5 grade), jet fuel, fuel oil, and bitumen. The distance to the Ukrainian border is over 800 kilometers. The facility supplies fuel to the Samara, Saratov, and Penza regions, as well as to some central regions of Russia. It also supplies fuel to airfields and military units in the Central and Southern Military Districts of the Russian Federation.

This complex has been targeted by Ukrainian attacks before. For instance, on August 4, 2026, the Defense Forces carried out a drone strike on its territory. Additionally, strikes were launched on July 12 and on May 21, 2026.

At that time, the strikes seriously damaged the main AVT-6 crude oil refining unit, which accounted for over 70% of the facility’s capacity. Following this, production came to a complete halt for an extended period.

The Ilsky Oil Refinery (KNGK-INPZ LLC) is one of the largest private oil refineries in the region. The enterprise plays an important role in supplying fuel to both the domestic market and for export. The refinery is located in the village of Ilskaya of the Seversky district, approximately 30 km from Krasnodar.

The company specializes in primary oil refining and the production of petroleum products, including diesel fuel, gasoline, fuel oil, and bitumen.

The refinery’s design capacity is approximately 6.6 million metric tons of crude oil per year.

This refinery also plays a key role in supplying fuel to the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine and to military units in the Southern Military District of the Russian Federation.

It was last attacked on July 10, 2026.