Drones Strike Syzran Oil Refinery, Causing Fire

Strike drones targeted an oil refinery in the Russian city of Syzran, the Samara region, during the early hours of August 15.

The incident was reported by various media outlets and on social media, with Exilenova+ sharing eyewitness footage from the scene.

The strike began in the early morning, with local residents reporting a series of loud blasts – at least ten explosions were heard.

According to eyewitnesses, the first explosions were heard around 4:00 a.m.

Shortly afterward, fires broke out at the Syzran oil refinery, and videos of the incident began circulating on social media.

Syzran, oil refinery under attack pic.twitter.com/v8PMBDMXAN

— Exilenova+ (@Exilenova_plus) August 15, 2025

The footage shows several sources of fire and thick black smoke rising above the facility.

The Refinery

The oil refinery in the city of Syzran is part of PJSC Rosneft Oil Company. It has an annual processing capacity of 8.9 million tons of crude oil, producing gasoline, diesel fuel, aviation kerosene, and bitumen.

This Russian oil refinery is located about 700 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.

The facility supplies fuel to the Samara, Saratov, and Penza regions, as well as parts of central Russia.

The oil refinery also supplies fuel to airfields and military units of Russia’s Central and Southern Military Districts. Disabling it is therefore a key objective to reduce fuel supplies to Russian forces.

The oil refinery in Syzran has previously been targeted by Ukrainian attack drones, including in February and March of this year. Those strikes also resulted in fires at the facility.

On the night of August 14, drones struck a Lukoil oil refinery in the Russian city of Volgograd, causing a large-scale fire.