Drones struck Russia’s Ryazan oil refinery overnight on 5 November, and the plant caught fire, Ukrainian Telegram channel Exilenova+ reported. The Rosneft-owned plant is one of Russia’s largest refineries.

Russia’s war runs on fuel and oil money, and Ukraine’s drones go for refinery parts that sanctions make hard to repair. The Ryazan refinery supplies fuel to Moscow and central Russia, and the last raid already cost it capacity. After the 15 October strike, one of its primary crude units shut down, two industry sources told Reuters. No one has yet reported which parts of the plant this fire hit. Ryazan is the fifth Russian refinery struck since 30 October, when strikes resumed after about two weeks without a reported refinery fire.

Fire at the refinery

Exilenova+ posted video of strike drones breaking through to the refinery’s industrial zone. About half an hour later, the channel wrote that the refinery had been attacked and was burning. Russian Telegram channel Astra said its OSINT analyst confirmed that the refinery itself was on fire.

Ryazan Oblast Governor Pavel Malkov claimed falling drone debris caused damage. Separately, he claimed fires broke out at industrial sites in Ryazan and damaged power lines cut electricity in part of the city. He also said an outbuilding caught fire in Rybnovsky district, private houses were damaged in Ryazan district, and a city school’s windows were blown out. One person was injured, he claimed. In a later update, Malkov claimed more than 200 drones attacked the region, power was restored, and the fires were out or contained.

He did not name the refinery. Three weeks earlier, after the 15 October raid, Malkov named the plant when he reported a fire there.

Astra also reported that a large Wildberries online-retail warehouse in Ryazan was presumably burning. Its analyst based that on a reader’s photo and had not verified it.

The refinery can process more than 17 million tons of crude a year, Exilenova+ noted. It makes gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, fuel oil, and bitumen. In its post on the fire, Astra also reported that the plant supplies Russia’s army, pointing to a 2014 Defense Ministry fuel batch and the TS-1 jet fuel it produces.

Four other refineries since 30 October

Drones hit Novokuibyshevsk in Samara Oblast on 30 October, the Bashneft-Novoil refinery in Ufa, Bashkortostan, on 31 October, and Lukoil’s Kstovo plant in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast on 1 November. Together, those three plants processed about 24 million tons of crude a year. That equals roughly 10% of Russia’s refining in 2024 and over 10% of its diesel. Overnight on 3 November, drones also struck the Slavneft-YANOS refinery in Yaroslavl. Yaroslavl Oblast Governor Mikhail Yevrayev said the attack damaged its infrastructure and wounded two workers. Crews were putting out a fire there, he added.

In Ufa, Astra’s analyst identified the burning plant as Bashneft-Novoil. Exilenova+ wrote that probably two Ufa refineries were attacked. Counting both, it calls Ryazan the sixth refinery hit in a week.

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On 15 October, US President Donald Trump called Ukraine’s renewed refinery strikes “a disgrace.” In late October, The Wall Street Journal reported that Ukraine had paused them under US pressure until after the 3 November US midterms. The Novokuibyshevsk strike came hours later, and drones have hit four more refineries since.