Drones Attack One of Russia’s Largest Oil Refineries in Kstovo

Drones attack one of Russia’s largest oil refineries in Kstovo
Drones attack one of Russia’s largest oil refineries in Kstovo. Telegram @astrapress

On the night of January 28 to 29, 2025, an attack with strike drones hit an oil refinery in the city of Kstovo, located in the Nizhny Novgorod region of Russia.

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The attack damaged petroleum product storage tanks, resulting in a large-scale fire.
The information was reported by the Astra news portal, and local residents reported hearing approximately ten explosions from the refinery area.

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The Target Was One of Russia’s Largest Refineries

The facility hit was the Lukoil-Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez refinery, one of the largest in Russia. Located at coordinates 56.13278210600415, 44.1796687086928, the refinery has an annual processing capacity of 17 million tons of oil. In 2022, it processed 15.7 million tons of crude oil, accounting for approximately 5% of Russia’s total oil refining.

Russian Authorities Downplay the Impact of the Attack

The Governor of the Nizhny Novgorod region, Gleb Nikitin, stated on his Telegram channel that the fire was caused by falling drone debris after Russian air defenses repelled the attack.

“As a result of repelling a UAV attack, fragments of a drone fell on the territory of one of the enterprises in the Kstovsky industrial zone. Firefighters are extinguishing the fire. According to preliminary data, there are no casualties,” Nikitin wrote.

Air Attacks Continue to Increase in Russia

The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that, during the night of January 28 to 29, air defense and electronic warfare systems intercepted 104 drones, with four directly over the Nizhny Novgorod region.

Despite the refinery being located 800 km from the Ukrainian border, it had already been targeted by drone attacks in the summer and fall of 2024, highlighting the increasing vulnerability of Russia’s energy infrastructure to aerial strikes.

Sources and images: mil.in.ua, Telegram @astrapress. This content was created with the assistance of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.

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