Ukraine drones strike Russia’s largest refinery in deep Siberia

Ukrainian drones struck Russia’s largest oil refinery in Omsk, setting off a fire at a plant about 2,700 kilometers from Ukrainian-held territory and close to the Kazakhstan border. Local authorities confirmed the attack, and Omsk regional governor Vitaly Khotsenko said Russian air defenses destroyed most of the drones while emergency services worked at the scene.

Khotsenko said there were no casualties, but the full extent of the damage was not immediately clear. Ukrainian military officials said the strike ignited a fire at the refinery, which is owned and operated by Gazprom Neft and has an installed annual processing capacity of about 22 million to 22.23 million tonnes of crude oil. The plant began operations in 1955 and has been modernized for years, making it one of the most important nodes in Russia’s fuel system.

The Omsk site matters because it sits at the center of a supply chain that feeds both civilian demand and the war economy. Related reporting has said the refinery supplies more than half of the Siberian Federal District’s motor-fuel demand and accounts for roughly 10 percent of Russia’s total refining capacity. Even a limited fire there can ripple through fuel supply, military logistics and export revenues.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy used his nightly address to point to the strike as evidence that Ukrainian drones can now reach deep into Siberia. The Ukrainian defense technology company Fire Point said upgraded FP-1 drones carried out the mission and described it as a record for strike drones worldwide. Ukrainian sources also described the Omsk facility as the first known attack on the refinery. Some reporting placed the flight distance at more than 2,500 kilometers, while other accounts pushed the range to 3,000 kilometers and as high as 3,400 kilometers.

The strike fits a broader pattern of pressure on Russia’s energy infrastructure. Reporting linked to Reuters said Ukraine has doubled the number of oil refineries targeted since the start of the year, and March assessments said Ukrainian drone strikes had knocked out about 40 percent of Russia’s oil export capacity. AP-counted reporting said there had been more than 50 attacks on Russian energy infrastructure since March, underscoring how the campaign is forcing Moscow to defend a much wider map than the front lines alone.