Drone attack sparks large fire at Gazprom refinery in Russia's Salavat

Explosions shook the Russian city of Salavat early on Thursday after residents reported an attack on the Gazprom Neftekhim Salavat oil refinery, independent monitoring channels said, according to NV.ua. Ukrainian monitoring Telegram channels Exilenova+ and Supernova+ reported that Ukrainian drones struck the plant overnight, Meduza reported.

The independent Telegram channel Astra reviewed photos and videos from eyewitnesses and concluded that a fire likely broke out on the refinery's grounds, Meduza reported. Neither Russian nor Ukrainian authorities had commented on the incident, and The Kyiv Independent said it could not verify the attack independently.

Bashkortostan authorities declared an air raid alert overnight because of the threat of a drone attack but had not reported on the aftermath by Thursday morning, Meduza said. Russia's defence ministry said its air defences had shot down 399 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions, occupied Crimea and the Black Sea since the evening of 7 October; the claim could not be independently verified.

Gazprom Neftekhim Salavat is one of Russia's largest oil-refining and petrochemical complexes, processing up to 10 million tonnes of hydrocarbons a year and making more than 150 products including petrol, diesel, fuel oil, bitumen, polyethylene, styrene and ammonia, according to Ukrainska Pravda. The plant is about 1,300 to 1,400 kilometres from the Ukrainian border.

The refinery has been struck repeatedly over the past year. An attack on 24 September 2025 damaged a primary processing unit, a strike on 14 July 2026 caused a fire that halted refining completely, and another fire followed an attack on 13 August 2026, Ukrainska Pravda and NV.ua reported. Separately, drone debris fell on a facility in Krasnodar, damaging a building and sparking a fire with no injuries, a local emergency response headquarters said, according to Meduza.