Ukrainian drones strike oil refinery in Russia’s Samara region - Sources

According to the sources, on the night of March 10, Ukrainian UAVs carried out another attack on a Russian oil refining complex. This time, the target was the Novokuibyshevsk oil refinery in the Samara region, which, among other things, produces fuel for jet engines of supersonic aircraft such as the Su-27, Tu-22M3, and others.

Sources in intelligence told RBC-Ukraine that the strikes on the refinery occurred around 2 a.m. local time. They were heard in several districts of the city. Eyewitnesses in local online communities reported a series of explosions at the refinery. They noted that protective nets, intended to shield the facility from drone attacks, had not yet been fully installed.

The Novokuibyshevsk oil refinery is the most powerful oil processing facility among the plants of the Samara group of NK "Rosneft," with a design capacity exceeding 8.8 million tons of oil per year. The facility is one of the main producers of high-grade RT fuel for jet engines, used in subsonic and some supersonic aircraft such as the Su-27 and Tu-22M3.

Attack on Novokuibyshevsk oil refinery

As previously reported, several explosions occurred in the Samara region, Russia, overnight on March 10, amid reports of a threat of an airstrike. Drones were allegedly detected in the region.

Later, footage appeared online, presumably from the city of Novokuibyshevsk, showing flashes and the sounds of explosions.

According to Andriy Kovalenko, Head of the Center for Countering Disinformation at Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, the Novokuibyshevsk oil refinery was subjected to an aerial attack using drones that night.

Earlier, in March 2024, a drone strike targeted the Kuibyshev oil refinery in the Samara region. Due to the drone attack, operations at the facility were halted, as one of the installations was damaged.