A huge blaze tore through Russia’s Syzran oil refinery on Saturday following a Ukrainian drone attack, sending thick black smoke rising over the Rosneft facility. Ukraine’s General Staff confirmed its forces struck the Syzran plant in the Samara region and the Ilsky oil refinery in Krasnodar Krai overnight, recording hits and subsequent fires at both sites.
Residents and monitoring channels reported multiple loud explosions in Syzran followed by the major blaze. Satellite data also detected a large thermal hotspot consistent with the refinery fire. Ukrainian official Anton Gerashchenko shared video of the burning plant, writing: “An oil refinery in Syzran, Russia is burning after a drone attack.”
Samara Governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev said drones had hit “an industrial enterprise” but did not name the refinery.
In Krasnodar, officials reported that debris from a falling drone sparked the fire at Ilsky that wounded five people.
The attacks form part of Ukraine’s sustained campaign against Russian oil infrastructure, which has repeatedly disrupted refining capacity and contributed to fuel shortages inside Russia.
They came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, visiting Belgrade, denounced Russia’s latest deadly overnight attacks on Kyiv and the surrounding region which killed four people, including a three-year-old child.
Two grandparents and their three-year-old grandson were killed after multiple Russian drones destroyed their home in the Brovary district of Kyiv region, north-east of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, early on Saturday.
Three other members of the same family and a neighbour who came to their aid were taken to hospital, local authorities said. The attack reduced the house to rubble and wrecked outbuildings and cars.
In the city of Kyiv, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said at least one other person died in a “strike involving six ballistic missiles against civilian infrastructure”.
Mr Zelensky was in Serbia for his first official visit as head of state, holding talks with President Aleksandar Vusic on EU aspirations and bilateral ties.
Mr Vusic called Ukraine a “friendly nation” and reaffirmed respect for its territorial integrity.
Mr Zelensky said ballistic missiles and drones had targeted civilian infrastructure, noting slower deliveries of Patriot interceptors and administrative delays in paperwork for local defence production licences.
Ukraine’s air force reported intercepting most of the incoming attack drones while Moscow claimed to have downed hundreds of Ukrainian UAVs overnight.
