Against a backdrop of fire hotspots recorded by NASA satellites on Monday evening, Ukraine’s military said its drones had struck the Omsk refinery in western Siberia. The plant is operated by Gazprom Neft and lies on the northern outskirts of the city, around 2,500 kilometers (1,550 miles) from the Ukrainian border.
Kyiv called it Russia’s largest refinery. Ukraine’s General Staff gave a brief account on Facebook: “An impact with subsequent fire was recorded on the territory. The extent of the damage is being verified.” It said Omsk was “the last of the 11 largest gasoline producers in Russia that have been hit.”
Governor Vitaly Khotsenko of Omsk region confirmed the raid. “Several drones” had broken through layers of Russian air defense, he said, and emergency services went to the facility. He did not say what had been damaged, if anything.
The Moscow Times described it as one of the deepest attacks on Russian territory since the full-scale invasion began, and the first Ukrainian drone attack on Omsk region since 2022. Sources told Reuters that the refinery processed around 23 million metric tons of oil last year.
The company behind the plant
Gazprom Neft is the third-largest oil producer in Russia and ranks third by refining throughput. It is a subsidiary of Gazprom, which holds about 96% of its shares. The company is registered and headquartered in St. Petersburg, after its central offices moved from Moscow in 2011.
Strikes elsewhere
Omsk was one of several targets named on Monday. Ukraine’s HUR military intelligence agency said it hit the Slavneft-Yanos refinery in the Yaroslavl region, one of Russia’s five largest, some 700 kilometers (435 miles) from the border. The General Staff said it documented “explosions and smoke” at the site.
In the Leningrad region, Ukraine said it struck the Ust-Luga complex of gas producer Novatek on the Baltic Sea, as well as the deployment point of a Russian missile brigade. Ukrainian forces also reported attacks in Russian-controlled parts of Ukraine: one of Crimea’s largest petroleum storage and shipment facilities in the port of Kerch, a key transport corridor, and a drone warehouse in occupied Luhansk region.
