A fire broke out at the Kirishinefteorgsintez oil refinery in the city of Kirishi, Leningrad Region, following a drone attack during the night of November 9. The facility is Russia’s second-largest oil refinery by capacity and is part of the Surgutneftegaz group.
Leningrad Region Governor Alexander Drozdenko said that 113 unmanned aerial vehicles had been shot down over the region. The Ukrainian media outlet Ukrainska Pravda, citing Ukrainian monitoring channels, the Russian media project ASTRA and Drozdenko, reported a fire on the refinery’s premises.
“The Kirishi oil refinery is on fire in Leningrad Region amid the UAV attack. It is a key fuel supplier for St. Petersburg and aviation kerosene supplier for Pulkovo Airport,” ASTRA said.
Preliminary data on the damage
According to preliminary information, one of the primary oil-processing units — the ELOU-AVT-2 — was on fire. It was also reported that the ELOU-AVT-6 and ELOU-AT-6 units were damaged.
At present, there is no confirmed information on whether production at the refinery has been completely halted, or on the extent of the damage. The information about the affected facilities is preliminary and is based on an analysis of video footage and photographs from the area conducted by OSINT analysts from ASTRA and Dnipro Osint.
Kirishinefteorgsintez has a designed capacity of approximately 20–21 million tonnes of oil per year. The refinery produces gasoline, diesel fuel, aviation kerosene, fuel oil, bitumen, liquefied gas and petrochemical products. Due to its location, the facility is important for fuel supplies to northwestern Russia.
The refinery has been attacked before
The Kirishi oil refinery is under sanctions imposed by the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom because of its ties to Surgutneftegaz. The US sanctions against the company and entities linked to it, including the refinery, were introduced in 2025.
The facility has previously been targeted in drone attacks. Following a strike in March, its operations were completely suspended, while the last reported attack before the current one took place in August. The new damage could affect oil processing and fuel supplies, but the specific impact has not yet been officially announced.
Sources: pravda.com.ua, kyivindependent.com, 178.ru