More Than 10 Russian Refineries Have Been Hit By Ukrainian Drones Since Early August

Another day, another Ukrainian drone attack on a Russian oil facility. This time a major Gazprom oil and petrochemical facility in the republic of Bashkortostan was struck on Thursday.

“Two drones attacked the Gazprom Neftekhim Salavat enterprise,” Bashkortostan regional head Radiy Khabirov stated on Telegram. He called it a “terrorist attack” and described that security guards opened fire on the drones while they were inbound, though there were no injuries in the attack.

Videos from the scene showed thick black smoke rising above the facility, as emergency crews responded to battle the blaze and assess the damage – which is uncertain.

Gazprom Neftekhim Salavat refinery is one of the country’s largest, ranked as Russia’s 10th-largest and processing around 10 million metric tons of oil annually, and a huge array of petroleum and chemical products. This isn’t the first time it was struck by drones in an attack, given an incident which happened in 2024.

At least ten separate Russian refineries have come under cross-border drone attack from Ukraine since only early August, which has served to reduce nation-wide refining output by nearly 20% – or roughly 1.1 million barrels per day - and wholesale oil prices in Russia have risen sharply.

Gazprom refinery in Russia’s Bashkortostan is having a rough morning. pic.twitter.com/d9iK0otLEi

— Jay in Kyiv (@JayinKyiv) September 18, 2025

Ukraine’s military and media have classified Russia’s refineries as essentially military targets, given they prop up funding of the armed forces as they execute Putin’s ‘special military operation’.

For example there was this early August statement from Ukrainian media:

According to Ukraine’s General Staff, the ELOU-AVT-6 primary oil processing unit, with an estimated annual capacity of 6 million tons, was hit.

The plant, which has a capacity of 13.8 million tons per year, was previously struck by Ukrainian drones on Aug. 2, forcing two of its three main refining units to halt operations.

Ukraine’s military said the facility plays a role in supporting Russia’s armed forces.

This reveals a concerted effort to permanently damage the Kremlin’s ability to fund the war. Newsmax has previously observed that “The impact has been felt nationwide. Motorists face fuel shortages, long lines, and record prices.”

Salavat oil refinery in Bashkortostan lies more than 800 miles from the Ukrainian border…

The report noted further, “Wholesale gasoline prices have jumped 54% since January, prompting authorities to suspend exports and impose rationing in some regions.”

Meanwhile, according to TASS on Thursday, “The Russian Finance Ministry is budgeting for a gradual decrease in dependence on oil and gas, with the oil cutoff price in the budget rule planned to fall to $55 per barrel by 2030, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said at the Moscow Financial Forum.”

Siluanov said, “In order to make finances sustainable, we propose and budget for a reduction in the budget’s dependence on various restrictions, be they price or volume, on oil and gas revenues.”