In the early hours of 3 November, explosions shook the Russian city of Saratov as several Telegram channels shared footage and local accounts pointing to a Ukrainian drone strike on the city’s oil refinery. Later that day, Ukraine’s General Staff confirmed the refinery had been hit.
Saratov oil refinery struck again in confirmed Ukrainian drone attack
Initial reports began surfacing around 00:50 Kyiv time, when residents of Saratov and the nearby city of Engels heard powerful blasts and the operation of air defense systems.
Supernova+, a Ukrainian Telegram channel, shared a photo showing smoke over the refinery and commented that air defense systems were active above the site.
The Ukrainian Telegram channel, Exilenova+, published footage of a drone strike, confirming a strike on the refinery.
According to the Russian Telegram channel Shot, locals described a series of explosions in the sky, which continued intermittently for about an hour as of time of the reporting. Shot said people across Balakovo and Kalininsky districts of Saratov Oblast reported hearing drones and loud detonations.
Dnipro OSINT geolocated the video, stating it captured a Ukrainian drone hitting the Saratov refinery’s AVT-6 crude distillation unit.
Russian Telegram channel Astra also reviewed the visuals and also concluded that the target of the attack was the Saratov refinery, noting that the impacted area appeared to be covered with a protective net.
"It is worth noting that the video already shows a source of fire in the western part of the plant, possibly near the storage tanks," Astra added.
One of Russia’s largest oil refineries repeatedly targeted
The Saratov oil refinery is among the largest industrial fuel facilities in Russia. It produces gasoline, diesel, fuel oil, road and roofing bitumen, vacuum gas oil, and technical sulfur. The plant is owned by Rosneft and processed around 5.8 million tons of oil in 2024–2.2% of all oil refined in Russia that year. In 2023, it processed 4.8 million tons.
Ukrainian defense news outlet Militarnyi noted that the refinery has already been targeted seven times in 2025 by Ukrainian drones. Astra said that this was at least the sixth confirmed strike.
