Major oil refinery in Yaroslavl has been attacked in Russia: fires have broken out at plant. VIDEO+PHOTOS

On the night of 28 March, drones attacked one of the largest oil refineries in Yaroslavl. Following the strikes, fires broke out in various areas of the plant, including near the storage tanks.

This was reported by Censor.NET, citing Russian Telegram channels Exilenova+ and Supernova+.

According to open-source data and videos published online, several drone strikes were recorded across the plant’s grounds, after which fires broke out at the facility. Footage of the blaze on the plant’s grounds is being widely shared on social media.

The Russian authorities traditionally offer limited comment on such incidents. Meanwhile, the governor of the Yaroslavl region, Mikhail Yevraev, stated that an attack by over 30 drones had allegedly been repelled in the region. He also reported that temporary restrictions on the arrival and departure of aircraft had been introduced at Yaroslavl airport the previous evening.

According to available video footage, the drones approached their target from the north-west, flying over the city before striking the industrial zone. It is likely that this trajectory was used to bypass the Russian Federation’s air defence systems.

Following the attack, fires were observed at at least three locations on the plant’s premises. These included fires near processing facilities, likely involving burning petroleum products, as well as a fire in the tank farm area, where finished petroleum products and intermediate refining components are stored.

Yaroslavl Oil Refinery: what is known?

The Yaroslavl Oil Refinery is a major industrial enterprise, one of the country’s key refineries, owned by Slavneft, a company controlled by Rosneft and Gazprom Neft. Its capacity allows it to process millions of tonnes of crude oil per year and produce petrol, diesel, fuel oil and various petroleum products for industry and transport. The plant is one of the largest in central Russia and is of strategic importance for supplying fuel to the regions and, in part, to industries linked to the public sector.

The plant supplies fuel to both the civilian market and the Russian army. Its refining capacity is around 15 million tonnes of crude oil per year (approximately 300,000 barrels per day).

The Yaroslavl Oil Refinery is located in the city of Yaroslavl, approximately 250 km from Moscow. The distance to the border with Ukraine is over 700 km, which for a long time was considered safe for Russian infrastructure.