Drone attack causes fire at Russian Volgograd oil refinery

(Bloomberg) — Debris from an attempted drone strike sparked a fire at Lukoil PJSC’s major oil refinery in Volgograd early Sunday morning, which authorities said was extinguished without casualties.

Most read by Bloomberg

“On the night of May 12, the air defense and electronic warfare forces fought against a drone on the territory of the Volgograd region,” wrote Governor Andrey Bocharov on Telegram.

Unconfirmed images on social media showed flames shooting from the facility. The extent of the damage was unclear and Lukoil did not comment.

Ukrainian intelligence claimed there had been a drone attack on the same refinery the night before. Bocharov said drones had been “intercepted and destroyed” in the area, but gave no details about which targets had been attacked.

The Volgograd refinery, hundreds of kilometers east of the Ukrainian border, can process 14.8 million tons of oil per year and is one of Russia’s largest. Back in February, the company was attacked by drones and temporarily suspended some of its operations.

After a nearly month-long pause, Ukraine resumed attacks on Russian refineries in late April. On Thursday, Gazprom PJSC’s Salavat Neftekhim petrochemical and oil refining plant was attacked, and on Friday a small facility in the Kaluga region was hit by drones.

Most read by Bloomberg Businessweek

©2024 Bloomberg LP