UkraineThe Kyiv Independent Live in London: October 2United Kingdom

Days until event:

00days
11hours
39minutes
35seconds
Get your ticket
Russia

Ukrainian forces reportedly strike oil facilities in Russia's Volgograd, Samara regions

• 2 min read
Operators of the Ronin Unmanned Systems Battalion, prepare and launch Hornet strike drones during a night operation.
Operators of the Ronin Unmanned Systems Battalion, belonging to Ukraine's 65th Separate Mechanized Brigade, prepare and launch Hornet strike drones during a night operation on Sept. 23, 2026 in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. (Carlo Bravo/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Ukrainian forces reportedly struck oil infrastructure in Russia's Volgograd and Samara regions overnight, with fires reported at facilities in both areas.

Ukrainian activist Serhii Sternenko and the Exilenova Plus monitoring channel identified the likely targets as the Volgograd Oil Refinery and the Samara oil distribution station, a major oil-transport facility previously targeted by Ukrainian forces..

The Kyiv Independent could not independently verify the reported damage.

The Volgograd refinery, owned by Russian energy giant Lukoil, is one of the country's largest oil-processing facilities, with an annual capacity of roughly 15 million metric tons of crude oil. Ukrainian forces have repeatedly targeted the refinery during the full-scale war, including strikes earlier this year that damaged primary and secondary refining units and temporarily halted production.

The Samara oil distribution station near the settlement of Prosvet plays an important role in Russia's oil transportation network. The facility blends different grades of crude to produce Urals, Russia's main oil export blend.

Ukrainian drones previously struck the Samara station in April, causing a large fire and damaging five crude oil tanks, each with a capacity of 20,000 cubic meters, a source in the Security Service of Ukraine told the Kyiv Independent at the time.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Oct. 1 that Ukrainian forces had successfully struck an oil facility in Samara Oblast as part of a series of long-range attacks on Russian military and energy targets.

Ukraine has intensified strikes against Russian oil refineries, depots, and transportation infrastructure in recent months in an effort to disrupt fuel supplies to the Russian military and reduce Moscow's energy revenues.

T
Tamara Nowakowsky

News Editor, North America

Tamara Nowakowsky is an editor on the North America desk at the Kyiv Independent. She is a Canadian journalist with more than two decades of experience across radio, television, print, digital media, and communications. Her previous work includes reporting for CBC Radio and Television, serving as editor-in-chief of Long Beach Magazine in Long Beach, California, and hosting travel and adventure segments on CKUA Radio. She has also worked in communications and media relations, including with the David Suzuki Foundation.

Read more
News Feed
Show More