Oil Refinery Ablaze in Russia’s Ukhta Following Drone Attack

The Ukrainian Defense Forces have struck the Lukoil-Ukhta oil refinery in Ukhta, in Russia’s Komi Republic.

Video released by the monitoring group Exilenova+ shows a thick column of black smoke rising from the facility following the attack. The refinery is located approximately 1,700 km from Ukraine’s state border.

Ukhta Oil Refinery

The Lukoil-Ukhta oil refinery, officially known as Lukoil-Ukhtaneftepererabotka LLC, is one of Russia’s oldest oil refineries. Built in 1934, it is part of the Lukoil oil company and is a key oil-processing facility in northwestern Russia.

The oil refinery specializes in processing heavy, high-sulfur crude oil extracted from fields in the Timan-Pechora oil and gas province, including the Yarega oil field. The facility has an installed processing capacity of approximately 4.2 million tonnes of crude oil per year.

The oil refinery is burning https://t.co/IftZtjMFUK

— Exilenova+ (@Exilenova_plus) October 9, 2026

The refinery’s main products include motor gasoline, diesel fuel, aviation kerosene, fuel oil, vacuum gas oil, as well as road and construction bitumen. A significant share of its fuel production is supplied to Russia’s Northwestern and Central Federal Districts, while some is exported through Baltic ports.

The refinery is equipped with crude oil distillation units, catalytic reforming facilities, diesel hydrotreating units, and dewaxing units. The facility has undergone successive modernization projects to increase its oil-processing depth and produce motor fuels that meet higher environmental standards.

As previously reported, the oil refinery was also attacked in February this year. At the time, thick black smoke was observed rising from the site of the drone strikes.