Drone strike sparks blaze at oil refinery in Russia's Rostov Oblast, media reports
Editor's Note: This is a developing story.
A fire broke out at the Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery in Russia's Rostov Oblast after an overnight drone strike on Aug. 21, the Russian Telegram news channel Astra reporting, citing local reports and footage of the attack.
The city of Novoshakhtinsk lies around 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the Russo-Ukrainian border and over 200 kilometers (120 miles) from the front line.
At least five explosions were heard over the city of Novoshakhtinsk during the drone attack, residents said. Drones hit the local refinery, causing a large fire.
The Kyiv Independent could not verify these claims at the time of publication.
Footage of the alleged refinery strike shows smoke and flames rising from the attack site.
The Novoshakhtinsk refinery reportedly produces up to 7.5 million tons of oil products annually and specializes in fuel production.
Kyiv has targeted the facility in previous attacks. In December 2024, Ukraine's Navy and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) carried out a combined strike against the refinery that resulted in a large-scale fire and significant damage.
Ukraine's General Staff said after the attack that the Novoshakhtinsk facility is the only oil refinery operating in Russia's Rostov Oblast.
The Ukrainian military previously claimed that a July 2024 attack on the refinery destroyed 1.5 million tons of oil and oil products worth $540 million. The refinery also partially shut down after an attack in March.
Ukraine regularly launches long-range drone attacks on industrial and military facilities in Russia. Oil refineries, which fund and fuel Moscow's war machine, are frequent targets of these strikes.
Three Russian refineries have cut or suspended operations this month due to damage sustained from Ukrainian drone attacks, according to media reports. Bloomberg reported that a Rosneft facility in Saratov Oblast halted oil intake after a strike on Aug. 10.
Russia's Ryazan refinery also decreased its production by half while the Novokuibyshevsk refinery halted production completely on Aug. 2, Reuters reported.
