Ukraine Intensifies Oil Blitz on Russia, Striking Major Refinery in Yaroslavl

A Ukrainian drone attack struck one of Russia’s largest oil refineries overnight on Nov. 3, damaging infrastructure, injuring two employees and sparking multiple fires, regional authorities and Russian media reported. Yaroslavl Oblast Governor Mikhail Yevrayev said Russian air defenses shot down 124 drones over the region.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. “An oil refinery’s infrastructure was damaged. Two employees of the facility sustained shrapnel wounds,” Yevrayev wrote on Telegram. Drone debris also damaged several apartment buildings and private homes. Footage shared by eyewitnesses showed fires breaking out at the Novo-Yaroslavl Oil Refinery, operated by Slavneft-YANOS. At least five large fires were visible across the facility, the independent Russian outlet Astra reported. One of Russia’s largest refineries Slavneft-YANOS is one of Russia’s five largest oil refineries. The facility processes around 15 million metric tons (16.5 million US tons) of crude oil annually and supplies fuel to Moscow and other regions across Russia’s Central and Northwestern federal districts. Its customers include airports and facilities linked to Russia’s military-industrial complex. The refinery is owned by Slavneft, which is jointly controlled by state-owned energy giants Rosneft and Gazprom. The Tuesday, Nov. 3 strike marks the second attack on the refinery since the beginning of autumn. On Sept. 17, a Ukrainian drone strike damaged a processing unit responsible for around 40% of the facility’s capacity, forcing it to suspend operations. Other Topics of Interest Drones Target Russia’s Samara Oil Hub, Sparking Fire at Pipeline Facility Moscow says its air defenses intercepted 212 Ukrainian drones overnight, while explosions were also reported in occupied Luhansk. Ukraine resumes refinery campaign after 2-week lull The latest attack comes as Ukraine has resumed its campaign against Russian oil infrastructure following a nearly two-week lull in reported strikes on the country’s refineries. The pause followed mounting pressure from US President Donald Trump, who urged President Volodymyr Zelensky to stop targeting Russian oil refineries and diesel production facilities. On Oct. 10, Trump publicly called on Kyiv to halt the attacks. US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner also reportedly pressed Ukrainian negotiators to suspend the strikes, warning that continued attacks could jeopardize intelligence sharing. On Oct. 11, Trump announced an energy truce, prompting Ukraine to temporarily suspend attacks on Russian refineries. Zelensky subsequently said Kyiv had observed a three-day pause at Washington’s request, but Moscow continued striking Ukrainian energy facilities. On Oct. 15, Zelensky announced that Ukraine was resuming the attacks, saying the restriction had been lifted. Ukrainian drones struck the Ryazan Oil Refinery that same day. Despite the resumption, reported attacks on Russian oil refineries subsequently fell sharply. The Friday, Oct. 30 strike on Rosneft’s Novokuybyshevsk refinery in Samara Oblast marked the first reported refinery attack in nearly two weeks. The lull also coincided with some easing of fuel restrictions in Russia, with 15 regions lifting gasoline sales limits as supplies improved. Ukraine steps up strikes on energy infrastructure Since the Friday, Oct. 30 attack, Ukrainian forces have struck several more Russian energy facilities, renewing their campaign against Russia’s oil industry. Rosneft’s Novokuybyshevsk refinery was hit on Friday, Oct. 30, followed by an attack on Bashneft’s Novoil refinery in Ufa on Saturday, Oct. 31, and Lukoil’s NORSI refinery in the Nizhny Novgorod Oblast on Sunday, Nov. 1. On Monday, Nov. 2, Ukrainian forces reportedly struck the Samara Linear Production and Dispatch Station in the Samara Oblast, one of Transneft’s key oil transportation and distribution hubs. Zelensky offers to halt refinery strikes for Patriot missiles A day before the latest refinery strike, Zelensky said Kyiv could halt attacks on Russian oil refineries if Washington supplied Ukraine with additional Patriot air defense systems. “If you need us not to attack oil refineries, give me Patriots for one month,” Zelensky told Fox News. He also said another condition would be an end to Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.