Ukrainian drones struck Rosneft's Ryazan oil refinery overnight on 15 May 2026, igniting vacuum distillation units at one of Russia's largest petroleum processing plants, according to monitoring channels. Residents woke to sticky black oil droplets covering parked cars and apartment windows across the city. Ryazan is located southeast of Moscow, more than 450 km from Ukraine.
In the early hours of 15 May, Ryazan residents posted on social media about a series of explosions and drone overflights, Ukrainian Telegram channel Exilenova+ and Russian news Telegram channel Astra reported. Photos and videos shared by monitoring channels showed fire and thick black smoke rising from the refinery complex and the city itself.
Ryazan Oblast Governor Pavel Malkov stated that "debris" from drones fell on two residential buildings and an industrial enterprise. Malkov claimed three people died and 12 were injured, including children. Astra's OSINT analysts geolocated photos taken from the Olympiyskiy gorodok district, about 4 km from the refinery, and confirmed the plant had been hit.
Ukrainian monitoring channel Supernova+ reported that vacuum distillation units were burning at the refinery. Locals later shared photos of sticky black droplets covering parked cars and apartment windows across the city— what Supernova+ called "oil rain."
The Belgorod Oblast operational headquarters separately claimed a Ukrainian missile attack on regional infrastructure overnight, reporting damage to an unnamed infrastructure object and transport.
The Ryazan refinery profile
The Ryazan refinery, owned by Rosneft, ranks among Russia's largest petroleum facilities with a declared capacity of about 17 million tonnes of crude oil per year.
The plant houses four primary oil processing units, along with equipment for vacuum gasoil hydrotreating, cracking, catalytic reforming, and other complexes that produce all grades of automotive gasoline, diesel fuel, aviation kerosene, fuel oil, liquefied gases, bitumen, and petrochemical feedstock. The facility is the main motor fuel supplier for regions around the Russian capital.
A repeatedly targeted plant
The refinery has been repeatedly targeted since at least early 2025. Strikes hit the plant on 24 January, 26 January, 24 February, 22 May, 5 September, 23 October, and 15 November in 2025, with additional overnight hits in late November. The February 2025 attack forced the plant to fully halt operations after its main crude distillation unit, CDU-6, caught fire.
