Drones attacked oil refinery in Novokuybyshevsk and oil depots in Russian Federation
Drones struck an oil refinery in the Samara region and fuel infrastructure facilities in other regions of Russia.
This was reported by Censor.NET, citing Russian Telegram channels.
On the morning of 18 April, drones attacked an oil refinery in the city of Novokuybyshevsk in the Samara region.
According to monitoring sources, explosions were heard in Novokuybyshevsk at around 04:30 local time – eyewitnesses counted at least 6–8 loud bangs.
Bright flashes were seen in the sky over the eastern and northern parts of the city. Following the attack, thick black smoke rose above Novokuybyshevsk, and a fire broke out on the refinery premises.
Russians report that an air-raid siren is sounding in the city, and a ‘Carpet’ regime (flight ban) has been imposed at the airport.
Vyacheslav Fedoryshchev, Governor of the Samara Region, announced a threat of a drone attack in the region at around 03:00, but had not commented on the strike itself at the time of publication.
Among the likely targets is the Novokuybyshevsk oil refinery, owned by Rosneft. This is one of the key refineries in the Volga region, with a capacity of 8.8 million tonnes of oil per year.
Strikes on oil depots
On the night of 18 April, drone attacks were recorded in various regions of the Russian Federation, resulting in fires at fuel infrastructure facilities.
In particular, an oil depot caught fire in Tikhoretsk, Krasnodar Krai. According to the operational headquarters, there were no casualties, and over 200 people and dozens of pieces of equipment were deployed to extinguish the blaze.
In Sevastopol, near Kazachaya Bay, a tank containing residual fuel caught fire. According to Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Russian-appointed ‘governor’, the fire broke out after a downed drone crashed. He claims there were no casualties and that the fire will not affect the city’s fuel supply.
There were also reports of a fire near the port of Vysotsk in the Leningrad region during a drone attack. Governor Oleksandr Drozdzenko stated that the fire is being brought under control and there are no casualties. According to him, air defence forces allegedly shot down 27 drones overnight.
