Fire breaks out at Russian refinery in Kstovo after drone attack
A large explosion and fire rocked the city of Kstovo in the Nizhny Novgorod region after the area of a large oil refinery was attacked by drones on the night of August 26, 2026.
At 06:22 Bulgarian time on August 26, 2026, it became clear that the strike was directed against the industrial zone in Kstovo, where the “LUKOIL-Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez“ (NORSI) facility is located – one of the largest oil refining plants in the Russian Federation.
What is known about the attack in Kstovo?
Local residents in Kstovo reported a series of loud explosions heard shortly before dawn, followed by a rapidly growing fire in the area of the oil complex. The plant is of strategic importance with an annual capacity of about 17 million tons of oil, producing gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel.
According to preliminary data from monitoring channels and footage distributed on social networks, the fire has engulfed part of the technological areas. Such incidents complicate logistics and put serious pressure on the domestic fuel market and the supply of Russian forces.
So far, the official Russian authorities and the regional leadership have not yet come out with detailed comments or official statistics on the scale of the damage and possible casualties on the territory of the plant itself.