Fire reported at Ryazan refinery after drone attack

A fire broke out at the Ryazan oil refinery following a reported drone strike on November 5, according to Telegram channels cited by Ukrainska Pravda. The facility supplies aviation fuel and diesel to Russian forces and is among the country's largest oil refineries.

An air raid warning was issued for Ryazan and the surrounding area at about 02:00 local time. Residents subsequently reported hearing numerous explosions and drones, along with air defence activity. Reports of the attack appeared on Astra, Exilenova+, Supernova+ and other Telegram channels.

Supernova+ published footage showing a fire at the Ryazan Oil Refinery, also known as the Ryazan Oil Refining Company. An analyst working with open-source intelligence for Astra confirmed that the refinery was burning. In the morning, Ryazan Oblast Governor Pavel Malkov confirmed a drone attack on the region, saying power lines had been damaged and fires had started at industrial facilities.

The refinery belongs to Rosneft, a major Russian oil company. Publicly available information places it in Ryazan's Yuzhny Promyshlenny Uzel, or Southern Industrial Hub, and puts its annual crude oil processing capacity at approximately 17 to 18 million tonnes.

Its products include petrol, diesel, aviation kerosene, fuel oil and bitumen. Alongside supplying Moscow and central Russia, the plant produces fuel for the Russian Ministry of Defence. Its military-related output includes TS-1 jet fuel, which is used by military aircraft.

In 2014, the refinery announced that it had developed experimental batches of petrol specifically for the Defence Ministry. Those batches were manufactured to satisfy additional requirements for equipment operated by the Russian Armed Forces.

Telegram channels also reported a possible fire at a Ryazan logistics centre belonging to Wildberries, Russia's largest online retailer. That report remained tentative in the source account. A Wildberries logistics centre was also believed to have been targeted during a drone attack on Ryazan on July 29.

The refinery has been attacked previously. During the night of September 5 to 6, Ukraine's defence forces struck the plant, the Rostov-on-Don air base and three Russian air defence facilities.

An earlier strike on the refinery took place during the night of May 14 to 15. Ukraine's Special Operations Forces carried out that attack jointly with the Unmanned Systems Forces and other elements of Ukraine's defence forces.