Lukoil’s oil refinery caught fire in Volgograd as a result of a massive explosion.

The local media Volgograd Online reported on this.

The explosion occurred around 4 a.m. on January 15, 2025. Local residents reported lights in the sky and a massive fire that started near the refinery.

A video posted by local residents, filmed in the Krasnoarmeyskiy district of the city, shows a large column of fire rising above the facility.

According to the newspaper, local operational services confirmed the fire at the oil refinery and noted that internal interference caused the explosion.

At the same time, it is reported that the fire occurred at Unit 18 and two heat exchangers. The exact cause of the fire is currently unknown, and an investigation into the cause of the fire and explosion has been launched.

Nevertheless, in May 2024, Lukoil’s oil depot was already attacked by Ukrainian drones, which caused a severe fire on the territory of the enterprise.

At that time, local residents reported several explosions at intervals of about 10 minutes and a strange “buzzing” sound in the sky.

It should be noted that the plant, owned by LUKOIL-Volgogradneftepererabotka, is located 475 km from the Ukrainian border. It can produce over 14.8 million tons of petroleum products per year.

In addition, the plant was also attacked on February 3, 2024, which resulted in a fire of oil products over an area of 300 square meters.

Andriy Bocharov, governor of the Volgograd region, wrote that on the night of February 3, air defense forces and electronic warfare equipment repelled an attempted drone attack in the Volgograd region.

The Volgograd Oil Refinery has been operational since 1957 and has been part of the Lukoil company since 1993. The facility, which was named Lukoil Volgograd Oil Refinery, is the largest producer of petroleum products in the Southern Federal District.