Russia's NORSI oil refinery has shut its main CDU-6 primary crude distillation unit after a Ukrainian drone strike on 20 May 2026, two industry sources with direct knowledge of the situation told Reuters on 21 May.
The CDU-6 unit accounts for 53% of NORSI's overall capacity and usually processes about 190,000 barrels of oil per day, Reuters reported. Ukrainian drone attacks have halted or curtailed operations at nearly every major refinery in central Russia in recent days, Reuters reported.
Scale of the shutdown
NORSI—officially LLC Lukoil-Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez—is Russia's fourth-largest oil refinery and the country's second-largest producer of gasoline, Reuters reported. The plant can process 16 million metric tons of oil per year, equivalent to some 320,000 barrels per day.
The shut CDU-6 unit usually processes 25,700 metric tons of crude per day, equivalent to about 190,000 barrels, Reuters reported. Its shutdown will significantly cut overall refinery output and add to uncertainty in Russia's energy sector and fuel supply, Reuters reported.
The 20 May strike
Ukraine's General Staff said it had struck the Lukoil-owned oil refinery near Kstovo in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, located about 450 km (280 miles) east of Moscow, Reuters reported. The strike damaged the AVT-6 primary crude distillation unit—the Russian designation for CDU-6—and caused a fire, the General Staff said, according to NV.
Gleb Nikitin, governor of Russia's Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, said on 20 May 2026 that a fire had occurred at the industrial site, Reuters reported. Footage of the blaze was published by the Exilenova+ Telegram channel. Lukoil did not immediately reply to a Reuters request for comment.
Earlier strikes on Kstovo
The 20 May attack was the second drone strike on Kstovo in a week. Explosions hit Kstovo on 18 May 2026, and Ukraine's General Staff confirmed on 19 May 2026 that the Lukoil-Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez refinery had been struck.
