Russian Military Airfield, Major Oil Refinery Hit by Fires in Massive Overnight Drone Attack

A fire broke out at a military airfield in Rostov-on-Don and an oil refinery in Yaroslavl was damaged during a massive overnight drone attack that Russian officials attributed to Ukraine.Rostov Region Governor Yury Slyusar said falling drone debris damaged a transformer substation, disrupting power supplies in four districts of Rostov-on-Don.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official.“According to preliminary information, there are no fatalities or injuries. There are impacts on the ground; a fire broke out but was promptly extinguished,” Slyusar said.“Emergency services are working at the scene. Falling drone debris damaged a transformer substation, disrupting the power supply in four districts of the city,” he added.A drone threat alert was issued in Rostov-on-Don overnight on Sept. 17, while local residents posted footage showing a large fire. Earlier, Russian outlet and OSINT analyst Astra reported that the fire occurred at the Tsentralny military airfield in Rostov-on-Don, reportedly in the area where aircraft and helicopters are parked. An updated analysis by Astra indicated that one of the fire hotspots was located in the aircraft parking area. Satellite imagery reviewed by the outlet suggested that military aircraft and helicopters may have been stationed there. The extent of any damage to military equipment has not been independently confirmed. One of Russia’s biggest refineries damaged In Yaroslavl Region, Governor Mikhail Yevraev said an oil refinery had sustained damage during the overnight attack. Other Topics of Interest Russian Strike Destroys Zelensky’s Former TV Studio Warehouse Studio “Kvartal 95” said no employees were hurt after a warehouse storing costumes and sets was destroyed in Kyiv. “An oil refinery has sustained damage. Firefighting operations are underway. Falling debris also shattered windows in several apartment buildings and damaged cars,” Yevraev wrote on Telegram. Yevraev said Russian forces had shot down 65 drones while repelling the attack. Earlier, Astra reported that the Slavneft-YANOS oil refinery in Yaroslavl had caught fire early Thursday morning. Yevraev had announced a drone threat in the region overnight and said the attack had been repelled. A section of the M-8 highway, which connects Yaroslavl with Moscow, was closed, while public transport routes were altered. Astra identified the refinery as the source of the fire after examining a photograph taken by an eyewitness and published by the Ukrainian monitoring Telegram channel Exilenova+. In a report at 8:19 a.m., Yevraev said the fires at the oil refinery had been fully extinguished.He said traffic had been blocked for safety reasons after drone debris was discovered on the road leading out of Yaroslavl toward Moscow, starting at the intersection of Moskovsky Prospekt and the Southwestern Bypass.“Please refrain from traveling in that direction or the surrounding area, or choose a route that bypasses this section,” he added.The Slavneft-YANOS refinery processes approximately 15 million metric tons of oil annually, making it one of Russia’s five largest refineries. Its products include Euro-5 gasoline and diesel fuel, aviation and jet fuel, lubricants, bitumen, paraffin and wax products, aromatic hydrocarbons, liquefied gases and fuel oil.The refinery is the main refining asset of Slavneft, a vertically integrated oil company whose shares are controlled on a parity basis by Rosneft and Gazprom.The facility has previously been targeted repeatedly by Ukrainian strikes. It caught fire at least eight times in 2026, on March 28, April 26, May 8, May 22, July 6, July 16, Aug. 6 and Aug. 28.The Russian Defense Ministry has not yet provided an official account of the number of Ukrainian drones shot down or suppressed during the overnight attack. Ukraine has not officially confirmed its involvement. Julia is a Deputy Head of News and correspondent for Kyiv Post who has previously worked as a parliamentary editor, journalist, and news editor. She has specialized in covering the work of the Ukrainian parliament, government, and law enforcement agencies.