Drones hit a refinery in the Rostov region

A group of attack drones hit a Russian oil refinery in Novoshakhtinsk, Rostov region. Local media reported on this. On the night of June 6, a series of explosions blasted out at the Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery, which resulted in a large-scale fire at the enterprise.

Local residents reported that the explosions were preceded by the flight of unknown drones. According to preliminary data, the strike damaged the Elou-AVT-2.5 atmospheric vacuum oil distillation unit.

One of the eyewitness videos shows a burning industrial facility. According to public data, two such units have been deployed at the Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery, each with a capacity to process about 2.5 million tons of oil per year. It is worth noting that the systems critical to the processing of oil products were protected by a dome of ropes stretched at a certain distance, which probably served as anti-drone nets.

This is the first time such protection has been spotted at oil refineries. Similar structures were previously observed at the site of the damaged Russian oil depots.

The ELOU-AVT-2.5 unit at the Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery and protective structures are engulfed in flames

Rostov Region Governor Vasily Golubev confirmed the incident and claimed that no casualties were caused by the explosion. Golubev said that 120 firefighters were involved in extinguishing the fire.

According to him, the fire covered an area of about 100 square meters, although, judging by the footage, this estimate is greatly understated. He also added that the response to the damage had to be interrupted, and all people had to be evacuated from the site due to a second drone strike. This is the third strike by Ukrainian drones on the oil refinery in Novoshakhtinsk.

It was preceded by two other attacks using drones in March and May.