Fire reported at Ufa refinery after drone attack

A fire was reported at the Bashneft-Novoil refinery in Ufa on Saturday morning after a drone attack on the city, with open-source analysts identifying the refinery's L-35 catalytic reforming unit as likely burning and Ufa airport suspending operations under a drone alert.

Why it matters: Ufa is one of Russia's largest refining complexes, at 23.5 million tonnes of crude a year, and the reported strike comes a day after Ukraine hit the Novokuibyshevsk refinery, ending a two-week pause that Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak had already warned could cut the diesel volumes Russia planned to export in November.

Data as of Reports of Saturday morning, October 31, 2026, read in full in this run: Kyiv Independent reporting via EuropeSays, citing the Russian outlet ASTRA's open-source analysis of eyewitness photos, and UkrMedia News, in English, citing the Telegram monitoring channels Exilenova+ and Supernova+. Both accounts trace to monitoring channels and open-source analysis, Russian authorities had not confirmed that the refinery was hit or the extent of any damage, and there is no independent confirmation of which unit was struck, so this item is carried at grade C. Bloomberg reported the same strikes under its own headline the same morning. Developing item.

A fire was reported at the Bashneft-Novoil refinery in Ufa, the capital of Russia’s Bashkortostan region about 1,400 kilometres from the Ukrainian border, after drones attacked the city on Saturday morning. Residents reported several explosions in the industrial zone, a column of smoke and internet disruptions, and an analyst for the Russian outlet ASTRA, citing open-source analysis of eyewitness photos, said the refinery’s L-35 catalytic reforming unit was likely burning; a Telegram monitoring channel reported fires at two of the three refineries in the city’s northern industrial zone, which Russian authorities had not confirmed.

Ufa airport suspended operations after a drone hazard alert was declared in Bashkortostan, and there was no information on casualties. Rosneft-owned Bashneft runs three adjacent refineries in Ufa with combined capacity of 23.5 million tonnes of crude a year, and Bashneft-Novoil produces Euro-6 gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and industrial oils. The reported strike follows Ukraine’s attack on the Novokuibyshevsk refinery early on Friday, which ended a two-week pause in the refinery campaign, and Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Friday that the resumed strikes could lead to a reduction in the diesel volumes Russia plans to export under its arrangement with the United States.

Fire reported at Ufa refinery after drone attack

Sources