Ukrainian drones strike oil refinery in Russia's Saratov, locals say
Editor's Note: This is a developing story.
Ukrainian drones attacked the Russian city of Saratov overnight on Nov. 14, striking the local oil refinery, residents claimed.
If confirmed, this would mark the fourth time Ukraine has hit the Saratov oil refinery in fall 2025.
Saratov Oblast Governor Roman Busargin confirmed that drones attacked the region overnight and said that "civilian infrastructure" in Saratov had been damaged. Emergency services are operating at the site, he said.
Locals, however, said that the drones struck the Saratov oil refinery — a frequent target of Ukrainian long-range attacks. Photos and videos of explosions circulated on social media amid the attack.
The Russian Defense Ministry reported that air defense units shot down 45 drones over Saratov Oblast during the night.
The Kyiv Independent could not verify these claims at the time of publication.
The Saratov refinery lies in southwestern Russia, roughly 150 kilometers (100 miles) from the border with Kazakhstan and nearly 600 kilometers (370 miles) east of the front line in Ukraine.
The facility, owned by the Russian oil giant Rosneft, has a processing capacity of 140,000 barrels of crude per day. It produces over 20 different petroleum products, including gasoline, diesel, fuel oil, and bitumen.
The refinery has been hit several times this fall. Previous attacks forced the facility to temporarily halt oil intake in August, Bloomberg reported.
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.
