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.

Explore further

Drones hit Russia’s Samara oil hub that blends Urals export crude—first strike there since 11 October

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.

Ukraine’s Navy hit six Su-34M bombers at Russia’s Borisoglebsk military airfield in Voronezh Oblast with Neptune missiles overnight into 15 October, the Navy said. Residents filmed a large fire at the base after a missile alert, and the Navy’s count has not been independently confirmed. The facility is about 400 km from the frontline.

Glide bombs are now central to how Russia’s army fights, used to pin down Ukrainian defenders, including drone teams, before small infantry groups move in. They also hit frontline cities and the civilians who live in them.

Six bombers and flight equipment hit, the Navy says

The Neptune coastal missile system also hit technical equipment that supports flights, the Navy said. It recorded secondary detonations and a fire on the airfield and said details were still being clarified.

The Su-34M can carry several guided and high-explosive aerial bombs at once, along with missiles, the Navy noted. It called the jet one of Russia’s key tools for glide-bomb strikes on Ukrainian positions and frontline towns. In September, a Ukrainian Neptune missile reached a Russian warship at its own pier.

Fire over the airfield late on 14 October

Voronezh Oblast Governor Aleksandr Gusev declared a missile alert across the region shortly before 22:00 local time on 14 October. Within an hour, Ukrainian monitoring channel Exilenova+ reported explosions and a fire, preliminarily at the Borisoglebsk airfield. It later wrote that the airfield had come under missile attack and a fire was burning there. Ukrainian monitoring channel Supernova+ posted footage from the town showing the blaze.

On the morning of 15 October, Gusev claimed that 33 drones and several jet-powered aerial targets had been downed over the oblast overnight. He did not mention the airfield.

A base Ukraine has hit before

The airfield hosts the 783rd training aviation center and units of the 105th composite aviation division of Russia’s Aerospace Forces, which flies Su-34, Su-35S, and Su-30SM jets, Ukrainian defense outlet Militarnyi reported. In summer 2026, it had no permanently based combat jets, and Russia used it mainly as a stopover to refuel and rearm aircraft striking Ukraine, the outlet said, citing satellite observation.

Ukrainian drones hit the airfield overnight on 8 July, starting a fire, and satellite images later showed its fuel and lubricants depot destroyed. Drones also attacked the base’s pilot training center in July 2025.

The same night, Ryazan Oblast Governor Pavel Malkov reported a fire at an oil refinery in Ryazan. It came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine was resuming strikes on Russian refineries.

Update: Satellite imagery confirms the strike

New satellite images show damage at Borisoglebsk airbase and six Su-34 bombers positioned in the affected area two days earlier, although the extent of the aircraft losses remains unconfirmed.

The monitoring channel Exilenova+ reports that 4 airframes were completely destroyed, while 2 others sustained significant damage.