Fire breaks out at oil refinery in Saratov after drone attack

11 February, 2025 Fire at the Saratov refinery. February 11, 2025. Image: Astra

On the night of February 11, Ukrainian strike drones hit an oil refinery in Saratov. The Russian telegram channel Astra reported on the fire on the plant and published a video from eyewitnesses among local residents. Later, Roman Busargin, governor of the Saratov region, confirmed the UAV attack.

He stated that the attack had caused "damage to an industrial enterprise" but did not specify which plant was hit. In Saratov, after the threat of a drone attack was announced, a series of explosions occurred.

Locals on social media claimed that windows in several residential buildings were shaking and car alarms were going off. In some videos from locals, the sounds of a flying drone's engine and small arms fire were heard.

The Russians also tried illuminating the detected attack UAVs in the sky with searchlights. In addition, residents of Engels, located near Saratov, wrote online about loud explosions near the Engels-2 military airfield of Russian strategic aviation, from where Tu-95MS and Tu-160 bombers take off for missile strikes against Ukraine.

OIL REFINERY

Photo: business-vector.info

The Saratov refinery is known as the "Kacking" plant, located in the Zavodsky district of the city. The refinery is part of the Russian oil company Rosneft. The design capacity of the refinery is 7.0 million tons of oil per year.

The previous strike by Ukrainian drones on this Russian enterprise took place on the night of January 14. Then, as a result of a joint operation by the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) and the Unmanned Systems Forces (USF) of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the infrastructure of the Russian Engels-2 airfield was damaged.

As a result, the oil depot of the Rosrezerv's Kristall plant in Engels, Saratov region, was hit for the second time. After the drone strike, tanks with rare aviation fuel caught fire.

It was a several-day complex operation to reduce the capabilities of Russian strategic bombers involved in cruise missile strikes against Ukraine.