An oil refinery in the city of Kstovo in the center of the European part of Russia was once again the target of a drone attack on Wednesday. The General Staff of the Ukrainian Army claimed responsibility for the attack. Ukrainian news channels Supernova+ and Exilenova+ quoted by Le Monde reported that the drone hit the primary processing unit ELOU-AVT-6, writes TASR.
In short:
- The oil refinery in Kstovo was hit by Ukrainian attack drones on Wednesday
- The attack caused explosions and a fire, the authorities suspended face-to-face classes in schools
- The Kstovo refinery is one of the largest producers of gasoline and diesel in Russia
Nizhny Novgorod Region Governor Gleb Nikitin previously reported that a Ukrainian drone attack caused a fire in two industrial facilities in the Kstovo district. He did not specify which devices were involved, the British station BBC added.
Explosions and fires
On Wednesday, residents of the city of Kstovo reported on social networks that they heard explosions and saw a fire in the area of the Lukoil-Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez refinery. In response, local authorities announced the immediate transition of schools in the region to distance learning and advised parents not to send their children to nurseries and kindergartens on Wednesday.
As Le Monde reported on its website, the Kstovo petrochemical complex was also targeted by air strikes in November 2025 and April 2026.
The key role of the refinery
According to Reuters, this refinery is the fourth largest producer of gasoline in Russia. It plays a key role in supplying Moscow and the surrounding region. With a processing capacity of approximately 17 million tons of crude oil per year, it produces more than 50 types of petroleum products, including approximately five million tons of motor gasoline, more than five million tons of diesel fuel and more than two million tons of heating oil.
In recent years, Ukraine has increasingly used long-range drones, or combined drone and missile attacks, targeting refineries and related energy infrastructure deep in the interior of Russia. These attacks are intended to disrupt fuel production, reduce Russia’s export earnings, and at the same time complicate the supply of its army, which is heavily dependent on stable supplies of fuel.
Technological sensitivity of targets
Large industrial complexes in the European part of Russia, for example in the vicinity of Moscow, Volgograd, in the Leningrad region or near the Black Sea, are most often the target. Several of them were repeatedly hit during the war unleashed by Russia, which in some cases led to a temporary restriction or interruption of operations.
The success of these attacks is also related to the fact that refineries are large and technologically sensitive facilities – an attack on one part of the operation can cause the entire complex to shut down. The protection of these areas is difficult, as they spread over a large area and their complete protection by air defense is practically not possible.
