Last night, Ukrainian drones struck Russia’s Syzran oil refinery in Samara Oblast about 800 km from the frontline, causing a fire and targeting the refinery’s only crude oil processing unit, according to independent reports and the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The same night, Ukraine’s Defense Forces also hit Russian military infrastructure in occupied Crimea, Luhansk, and Donetsk oblasts, the General Staff reported.
General Staff confirms strike on Syzran refinery
In its official statement, the General Staff said the Ukrainian Defense Forces hit the Syzran oil refinery as part of efforts to degrade Russia’s military and economic potential. According to the statement, the strike by Ukrainian combat UAVs triggered a fire at the facility.
The General Staff noted that the full extent of the damage is still being assessed.
Ukrainian Telegram channel Exilenova+ began posting videos showing distant explosions and Russian air defense activity in Syzran shortly after midnight on 28 December. Later, it reported, referring to local residents, that the strike hit the refinery’s ELOU-AVT-5 unit — a primary crude oil processing installation responsible for desalting, dehydration, and fractional distillation of crude oil.
This installation prepares crude oil for further refining and separates it into gasoline, kerosene, diesel fuel, and other fractions. The fire trucks seen in earlier footage reportedly headed directly toward that unit. The unit includes a desalter and an atmospheric-vacuum distillation unit with a projected capacity of 6 million tons of crude oil per year.
Russian news Telegram channel Astra also confirmed that the Syzran oil refinery was the likely target of the drone strike, based on a geolocated video. According to local residents cited by Astra, sirens were heard in the city, power briefly went out, and fire engines moved toward the refinery.
"According to unconfirmed information, one of the ELOU-AVT crude oil processing units was on fire," Astra wrote.
The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed that air defenses shot down 12 drones over Samara Oblast.
Exilenova+ said, based on a typical bright blue explosion in one of the videos, that electric substation were targeted. Astra also noted that the flash seen in the footage was typical of a strike on a high-voltage installation. The refinery operates three of its own substations.
Militarnyi said that the struck power facility was likely the 220 kV Syzran substation. Residents experienced temporary power and heating outages in residential buildings.
Ukraine confirms other strikes in occupied areas
In the same statement, the General Staff confirmed Ukrainian drone strikes on several other Russian military targets that night. These included a storage and servicing point for unmanned surface vessels near Chornomorske in occupied Crimea, a repair unit of the 1435th Motorized Rifle Regiment near Antratsyt in occupied Luhansk Oblast, a pontoon crossing near Nykonorivka, and a Shahed UAV storage site in Makiivka in Donetsk Oblast.
Ukraine blasts Russia’s prized anti-drone radar system in occupied Crimea, hits naval drone base (VIDEO, MAP)
General Staff confirms earlier refinery damage
Separately, the General Staff confirmed the results of a recent Ukrainian strike on the Lukoil-Volgogradneftepererabotka refinery in Russia's Volgograd Oblast. That attack damaged a petroleum product pipeline and a processing unit involved in lubricant production.
"The Defense Forces will continue taking measures to undermine the military and economic potential of the Russian occupiers and force the Russian Federation to end its armed aggression against Ukraine," the GenStaff wrote.
