Ukrainian drone hits Russia’s third largest refinery without significant damage

A Ukrainian drone struck Russia’s third-largest oil refinery on Tuesday, about 1,300 km from the front lines, hitting a unit that processes about 155,000 barrels of oil a day, although an industry source said the damage was not significant.

Russian authorities said a Ukrainian drone was identified near Tatneft’s Taneco refinery, which has an annual production capacity of more than 17 million tonnes (340,000 barrels per day).

Images from the scene indicated that the drone struck the main refining unit, CDU-7, at the refinery, although the drone appears to have caused no serious damage.

An industry source who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity said the damage to the unit was not critical and that personnel were returning to the site.

A fire broke out at the refinery but was extinguished within 20 minutes, state news agency RIA said, adding that production had not been halted.

Ramil Mullin, mayor of Nizhnekamsk in the Tatarstan region southeast of Moscow where the refinery is located, said there was no serious damage.

The unit that was hit is responsible for around half of the plant’s total annual production capacity. The refinery accounts for about 6.2% of Russia’s refining capacity.

A military intelligence source in Ukraine, which has been at war with Russia since Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbor two years ago, said in Kiev that Taneco’s main refining unit had been hit, causing a fire. The source stated that the aim of the attack was to reduce Russia’s oil revenue.

Another Ukrainian intelligence source said Ukrainian-made drones also struck a Russian factory producing “Shahed” long-range attack drones, causing “significant damage.”

Tuesday’s attack was one of several in Tatarstan, a highly industrialized region. The Washington Post reported last year that Russia was mass-producing drones at a factory in Tatarstan.