Unmanned aerial vehicles targeted oil refining facilities in Russia’s Krasnodar Krai and Volgograd Oblast during overnight attacks on 13 August, according to Russian sources.

The Russian Telegram channel Shot reports that drone debris fell on the territory of a refinery in Sloviansk-on-Kuban, Krasnodar Krai.

“Debris from one of the drones fell on the territory of the refinery, as a result of which a car allegedly caught fire,” Shot reported. Russian authorities claim no casualties resulted from the attack and that the fire was “promptly extinguished.”

Volgograd also came under drone attack, with the city’s oil refinery identified as the primary target by local Telegram channels. Volgograd Oblast Governor Andrei Bocharov confirmed that “debris from one of the downed drones fell on the roof of a 16-story residential building in the Traktorozavodsky district.”

Residents in southern districts of Volgograd reported air defense systems activation in areas housing industrial zones with the refinery and oil depot, according to Telegram channel Baza.

The overnight strikes follow a pattern of drone attacks on Russian energy infrastructure. On 7 August, Russia faced massive drone attacks that ignited the Afipsky refinery and a military unit in Sloviansk-on-Kuban, Krasnodar Krai. Local emergency services confirmed the fire at military unit No. 61661 in Sloviansk-on-Kuban following the drone strike. Regional authorities also verified the fire at the Afipsky refinery.

Russian officials reported drone strikes on the Saratov Oblast overnight on 10 August, with a local oil refinery apparently sustaining damage, Governor Roman Busargin said.

The Saratov oil refinery processes up to 7 million tons of crude oil annually, producing vital motor fuels and other petroleum products that supply a significant part of Russia’s domestic market and military needs, having served as a crucial logistics hub since World War II.

The governor confirmed damage at an industrial facility following the drone assault. Busargin claimed debris from a downed drone fell in a residential courtyard, prompting evacuations to a temporary shelter organized at a nearby school. According to the governor’s account, there was one fatality and several injured.

Local residents told the Russian propaganda outlet ASTRA that the Saratov oil refinery came under attack.

Russia’s Defense Ministry reported intercepting 121 drones over Russian Bryansk, Belgorod, Voronezh, Stavropol, Kaluga, Tula, Rostov  and Ryazan oblasts and occupied Crimea during the night.

The Saratov Oblast has faced regular drone attacks. On 1 July, Ukraine’s General Staff confirmed that Defense Forces struck the Saratovgorsintez oil refinery in the Saratov region. Explosions occurred in Saratov and Engels on 5 July, where a Russian airbase is located from which aircraft launch strikes against Ukraine.

Ukrainian drones struck the Tatsinskaya railway station in Russia’s Rostov Oblast for the second consecutive night, causing a fire near freight tanks, according to Russian Telegram channel Astra.

The attack occurred during the night of 5-6 August. Local residents reported about explosions and subsequent fires at the facility.

“The drone strike was apparently aimed at railway infrastructure,” said Petro Andryushchenko, head of the Center for the Study of Occupation.

“This is a non-electrified section of the railway and we are not hitting substations. This means we are systematically cutting out the Russians’ railway, including diesel traction with locomotives. For a long time,” he said.

The Tatsinskaya station had already been targeted the previous night, with explosions and fires reported on 4-5 August. That attack also affected the cities of Millerovo and Belaya Kalitva in the same oblast.

The railway attacks represent a shift toward targeting transportation infrastructure that supports both civilian and military logistics. The Tatsinskaya station sits on a key rail line connecting southern Russia with other oblasts.

Separately, the Russian city of Bryansk came under massive drone attack early morning on 6 August. Local witnesses described a column of thick black smoke rising from an oil depot area where drone debris had fallen.

The Bryansk Oblast has faced repeated drone attacks throughout the summer. In late June, Ukrainian drones struck rocket fuel storage facilities and fuel and lubricant warehouses belonging to the Russian army, causing fires at an oil depot. Ukrainian forces also destroyed an Iskander missile system near Bryansk during that period.

Russian authorities have not officially commented on either the railway station attacks or the Bryansk oil depot strike.

Multiple Russian oblasts reported explosions and fires at industrial facilities during overnight drone attacks on 2 August, with air defense systems activated across several areas, according to Russian Telegram channels.

Samara Oblast Governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev confirmed strikes on Novokuybyshevsk. Social media footage showed a large fire at what appeared to be the Novokuybyshevsk Oil Refinery, with sounds resembling drone operations and air defense systems audible in the videos.

The governor also announced temporary restrictions on mobile internet in the oblast and suspended operations at Samara airport following the attacks.

Defense-related facilities in Penza Oblast also came under attack. Drones reportedly struck JSC Production Association “Elektropribor,” a company specializing in control elements for Russian missile systems and communications equipment. The nearby AT “Radio Plant,” Russia’s sole defense facility producing air defense command centers, was likely also hit, according to reports.

Witnesses reported loud explosions near Dyagilevo airfield in Ryazan Oblast. Another oil refinery in Ryazan city was reportedly struck, with local social media publishing eyewitness videos showing a column of fire. Regional authorities confirmed drone attacks on a local enterprise without specifying which facility was targeted.

Residents of Lipetsk and Voronezh oblasts also reported UAV attacks and air defense activity during the night.

JSC Kuibyshev Oil Refinery produces motor fuels including Euro-5 standard gasoline and diesel fuel, along with dozens of other petroleum products in market demand.

The attacks followed similar overnight explosions in several cities of temporarily occupied Crimea on 1-2 August, after which occupying authorities closed the Crimean Bridge to vehicle traffic.

Ukrainian Security Service long-range drones struck the Signal plant in Russian Stavropol on 26 July, targeting one of Russia’s largest radio electronics manufacturers, hromadske reported, citing a source in the Security Forces.

One of the strikes reportedly hit building No. 2 (workshop No. 5), where” expensive imported equipment is located — machine tools based on numerical program control,” the source told hromadske.

The second strike was recorded in building No. 1, which houses workshop No. 17 for radio electronic devices.

The Signal plant specializes in producing various types of electronic warfare systems, radar, radio navigation equipment, and remote control radio equipment for Russia’s military-industrial complex. The facility operates under international sanctions.

The targeted workshops house critical infrastructure for military production: from imported machinery with numerical program control systems to radio electronic devices essential for military communications and navigation systems.

Russia’s Defense Ministry reported intercepting 54 unmanned aircraft overnight on 26 July across five oblasts, as well as over temporarily occupied Crimea and the Azov and Black Seas. By morning, Russian forces claimed to have downed six additional drones over North Ossetia and Moscow Oblast.

The attack represents a significant strike on Russia’s defense manufacturing capabilities, targeting a facility that produces electronic warfare equipment and radar systems used by Russian forces.

Ten Russian oblasts came under drone attacks overnight against 25 July, according to Russia’s Ministry of Defense and Russian Telegram channels.

Russian air defense intercepted 105 unmanned aerial vehicles, the ministry reported. Over 20 drones were destroyed above Belgorod, Bryansk and Rostov oblasts each. The remaining drones were shot down over the Sea of Azov waters, Krasnodar and Stavropol oblasts, and Kursk, Tambov, Voronezh and Oryol regions.

Nevinnomyssk mayor Mikhail Minenkov said about “37 arrivals” in the Stavropol Oblast city. The attacks allegedly passed without casualties or destruction, according to the mayor.

The Nevinnomyssk Azot chemical plant came under attack, reports Astra resource. Local residents reported the attack on the facility overnight, and eyewitness footage documented the strikes, according to Astra.

The city mayor later showed the plant territory from a distance on video and praised the “plant workers,” indirectly confirming that the enterprise was the target of the attacks. 

The chemical plant has been struck for the second time in two months. On 14 June, a 13-drone attack on the Nevinnomyssk Azot facility knocked out doors, windows and premises of one of the workshops. The plant’s cafeteria roof and anti-drone protection were also damaged. Some 800 chemical plant employees waited out the attack in a bomb shelter, with no evacuation conducted. The enterprise had to suspend operations.

Reuters reported that two EuroChem plants – Nevinnomyssk Nitrogen Plant and Novomoskovsky Azot – shipped at least 38,000 tons of acetic acid and nearly 5,000 tons of nitric acid to the Sverdlov plant in Dzerzhinsk, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, from 2022 to 2024. These materials are used to produce octogen and hexogen, which are then used for artillery shells, the publication noted.

According to Astra, the NAK Azot plant in Novomoskovsk, Tula Oblast, has also been attacked by drones at least three times this year.

In Krasnodar Oblast, minor damage to private houses and damage to the Timashevsk railway station occurred, reported governor Veniamin Kondratyev.

Drone debris damaged one of the passenger train cars there. Two people sustained minor injuries.

During the drone attacks, airports in Vladikavkaz, Grozny, Mineralnye Vody, Nalchik, Stavropol, Tambov and Sochi temporarily ceased operations.