Drones Hit Oil Refinery in Ufa

On the morning of April 2, Ukrainian drones struck an oil refinery in the Russian city of Ufa (Republic of Bashkortostan).

According to Exilenova+, local residents reported a series of explosions early in the morning, followed by a large fire at the facility.

OSINT analysts from the CyberBoroshno community identified the impact site using footage from a video released from the scene.

According to their data, the strike targeted the AVT-5 unit at the Bashneft–Novoil facility.

‘There is very intense burning, and a large amount of black smoke is being released. The AVT unit is a primary oil processing unit that is key to the production process, and without it, further refining is impossible,’ they noted.

The head of the region confirmed the drone attack and the fire in the industrial zone of the city of Ufa.

Footage of the blaze, visible from various parts of the city, was captured by eyewitnesses and shared on social media.

Due to the threat of drone use, an air alert was declared across the entire territory of Bashkortostan, and operations at Ufa Airport were temporarily suspended.

The Bashneft–Novoil refinery is part of the Russian oil company Bashneft, which has been under Rosneft’s control since 2016. The plant’s capacity is about 7–7.4 million tons of oil per year. It produces automotive gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel, lubricants, and other petroleum products. The refinery is located approximately 1,400 km from Ukraine.

A previous strike at the facility occurred on the morning of October 11 last year. It was carried out by operators of the Security Service of Ukraine’s Special Operations Center “A” using long-range drones.

Currently, Ufa is one of Russia’s key oil refining centers, supplying fuel and lubricants to Russian forces.