Ukrainian forces struck a primary oil refining unit at one of Bashneft's refineries in Ufa early Saturday morning, a source familiar with the matter told Bloomberg .
The complex, part of the Rosneft Group, is located approximately 1,750 kilometers from Kyiv and 1,200 kilometers east of Moscow. According to the source, this is the third attack at this location this year. Bashnafta operates three refineries in Ufa—Novoil, Ufimsky, and Ufaneftekhim—with a combined refining capacity of 23.5 million tons of oil per year. However, it is still unclear which refinery was hit.
Footage of smoke billowing over the area of the complex was posted on social media, and Ufa Airport temporarily suspended operations on Saturday.
Ukraine has recently stepped up attacks on Russian oil refining, launching at least 28 strikes on refineries since the beginning of August, many of them far from the border. Fuel production in Russia has declined, heightening concerns about supply availability.
Saturday's strike occurred amid recent Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure—specifically, the power grid and gas facilities in Kyiv, southern Odesa, and the central cities of Dnipro and Poltava. These attacks resulted in significant power and water outages for hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians; as of mid-Saturday, most supply chains had been restored, according to the Ukrainian Ministry of Energy.
