Russia's Ministry of Defence claimed overnight on 21 March that Ukrainian forces launched a mass drone strike, with 283 fixed-wing UAVs shot down across 14 regions and occupied Crimea, according to BBC Russian and Telegram channel Astra.
The drones were reported downed over Bryansk, Smolensk, Kaluga, Belgorod, Voronezh, Rostov, Volgograd, Tula, Ryazan, Kursk, Saratov, Samara, Tatarstan, the Moscow region and Crimea — a spread suggesting coordinated targeting across a broad geographic arc from Ukraine's border deep into Russian territory.
Among the most significant reported targets was the Ufa refinery cluster in Bashkortostan. The republic's head, Radiy Khabirov, stated that drones "were shot down in the area of oil refineries in Ufa." Astra, analysing footage from the scene, confirmed that Bashneft's refineries were "the likely target of the attack in Ufa," adding that drones struck a building under construction, according to local authorities.
Astra's frame-by-frame analysis indicates the drones were "probably heading towards Ufa's Northern Industrial Zone" — described by the outlet as one of Russia's largest petrochemical hubs. The zone hosts three Bashneft refineries — Bashneft-Ufaneftekhim, Bashneft-Noyil, and Bashneft-UNPZ — sitting in close proximity to one another. Bashneft is a subsidiary of Rosneft.
In Saratov Oblast, local Telegram channels reported that a local oil refinery may also have been a target of the strike, according to BBC Russian.
