Drones attack one of Russia's largest oil refineries: explosions and fire reported

Drones attacked the Russian city of Yaroslavl, located north-east of Moscow, more than 700 kilometres from the state border with Ukraine, on the night of 11-12 December. The strike caused a fire at the local oil refinery.

Source: Russian Telegram channels; local public pages; data from monitoring channels

Details: Russian public social media channels, citing local residents, reported a series of powerful explosions in the city. According to eyewitnesses, at least seven explosions were heard over the city. Before the attack began, local governor Mikhail Yevraev had announced a "drone threat" in the region.

Photos and videos later appeared online showing a bright glow in the sky above the city's industrial zone and a column of smoke. OSINT analysts and monitoring channels report that the Slavneft-YANOS (Yaroslavnefteorgsintez) plant was hit.

Slavneft-YANOS is among the five largest oil refineries in Russia. The plant can process about 15 million tonnes of crude oil a year.

This facility is of strategic importance for the economy and war machine of the aggressor state, as it produces a wide range of oil products, from petrol to jet fuel and lubricants.

Later, Russia's Defence Ministry claimed that its air defence allegedly destroyed 90 fixed-wing drones overnight.

The Russians say that the largest number of UAVs – 63 – was intercepted over Bryansk Oblast. Another eight UAVs were supposedly shot down over Yaroslavl Oblast, four over the Moscow region, three over each of Smolensk and Tver oblasts, as well as three over the Black Sea. Two drones were allegedly downed over Tambov and Tula oblasts. One UAV, the Russians say, was shot down over each of Oryol and Rostov oblasts.

Background:

• Earlier, the defence ministry of the Russian Federation reported that the largest drone attack on Russian territory in recent times had taken place. The Russian ministry claimed its air defence shot down 287 drones. At the same time, it was, as usual, silent about how many UAVs reached their targets and the real consequences of the strikes.
• It was previously reported that on the night of 10-11 December drones attacked the Russian city of Veliky Novgorod. Early information indicated that a local chemical plant had been hit, and a fire broke out on its premises after the attack.

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