A drone strike targeted a significant oil refinery in Ufa, Russia, leading to a large fire and notable smoke plumes visible in the area. According to reports, the facility in question is the “Bashneft-Ufaneftekhim” refinery, part of a complex operated by Rosneft, which consists of three major refineries situated closely together.
Local media outlets, including Astra, reported that two large columns of black smoke were rising from the facility, as evidenced by images and videos circulating online. The Bashneft-Ufaneftekhim refinery, located in Ufa’s Northern Industrial Zone, processes approximately 8.2 million tons of crude oil annually, producing motor fuels, petroleum coke, liquefied gases, sulfur, and aromatic hydrocarbons.
The Astra report highlighted that Bashneft manages three powerful refineries in the Northern Industrial Zone: Bashneft-Ufaneftekhim, Bashneft-Novoil, and Bashneft-UNPZ, collectively forming one of Russia’s largest oil refining complexes with a combined capacity of 23.5 million tons of crude oil per year.
Witnesses described the fire as enormous, with one woman commenting from a distant high-rise building that the flames were visible even from afar. “You can see how high the flames are. Just imagine how intense it must be if it’s visible from this distance. It’s really burning strong, and the videos don’t capture that,” she stated.
However, the head of Bashkortostan, Radiy Khabirov, downplayed the incident, referring to only “debris” and “smoke” in his statement. Khabirov claimed that a drone attack was thwarted and that the smoke resulted from debris falling onto the industrial zone. He assured that there were no casualties or injuries reported and that emergency services were promptly addressing the aftermath.
