Fire hotspots lit up on NASA satellite images of the Omsk refinery on Monday evening. Ukraine’s military said its drones had hit the plant, about 2,500 kilometers (1,550 miles) from the Ukrainian border, in western Siberia.
The refinery, run by Gazprom Neft, sits on the northern edge of the city of Omsk. Ukraine’s General Staff described it as Russia’s largest and posted a short statement on Facebook. “An impact with subsequent fire was recorded on the territory,” it said. “The extent of the damage is being verified.” The staff added that Omsk was “the last of the 11 largest gasoline producers in Russia that have been hit.”
Omsk region Governor Vitaly Khotsenko confirmed the attack. “Several drones” had broken through layers of Russian air defense, he said. He did not say what, if anything, was damaged, only that emergency services had been sent to the site.
It was the first time Omsk region had come under Ukrainian drone attack since the 2022 invasion, and one of the deepest strikes inside Russia of the war. The Moscow Times, which reported the attack, noted that sources had told Reuters the refinery processed around 23 million metric tons of oil last year.
Other targets the same day
Omsk was not the only target. Ukraine’s HUR military intelligence agency said it had hit the Slavneft-Yanos refinery in the Yaroslavl region, one of Russia’s five largest, roughly 700 kilometers (435 miles) from the border. The General Staff said it had documented “explosions and smoke” there.
In the Leningrad region of northwestern Russia, Ukraine said it struck Novatek’s Ust-Luga complex on the Baltic Sea, along with the deployment point of a Russian missile brigade.
Ukrainian forces also reported attacks in Russian-controlled parts of Ukraine. Targets included one of annexed Crimea’s biggest petroleum storage and shipment facilities, in the port city of Kerch, plus a key transport corridor and a drone warehouse in occupied Luhansk region.
