Drones Hit Oil Refinery in Russia

On the night of January 25, a series of explosions occurred at the Russian oil refinery in the city of Tuapse, Krasnodar Krai.

According to the Russian media, the oil refinery that is owned by Rosneft was attacked by drones, followed by a fire and explosion.

A number of explosions occurred as a result of several unmanned aerial vehicles of unknown type.

The media also reported that the company’s vacuum oil distillation unit was damaged, and the fire is currently localized to an area of 200 square meters. There is no information about the victims.

Based on the distinct silhouette, fuselage dimensions, and wing length observed in the video, the drone seems to be a long-range type. It is highly likely that it was launched from a considerable distance away from the target.

It is unlikely that the group of drones flew through the occupied Crimea, which is saturated with air defense systems, or across the front line in the Zaporizhzhia region. However, if the route was across the Black Sea, the drones would have flown more than 800 kilometers.

It is known that Ukraine has several drones capable of covering distances of 1000 kilometers or more.

It is worth noting that this incident is a continuation of a series of attacks on Russian oil and gas infrastructure that have been taking place in recent days.

On January 18, 2024, Ukrainian-made drones with a flight range of 1,250 kilometers attacked port infrastructure near the JSC St. Petersburg Oil Terminal, but did not cause any significant damage.

However, a few days later, on January 21, drones reportedly attacked the gas tanks of the Novatek terminal in the seaport of Ust-Luga, Leningrad region.

On January 19, after a drone attack in the Bryansk region of Russia, a fire broke out at an oil depot in the town of Klintsy.