Photo: Screenshot from the video
Explosions were heard overnight on November 1 in Kstovo, in Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region. At around 4:11 a.m., videos showing a large fire began circulating on social media. Local residents speculated that the LUKOIL-Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez oil refinery had come under attack.
Nizhny Novgorod Region Governor Gleb Nikitin confirmed an attack on an industrial facility in the Kstovo district. He said the region had come under a massive drone attack overnight and in the morning, with more than 100 drones reportedly destroyed.
The facility sustained significant damage, Nikitin added, while authorities were still assessing losses to civilian infrastructure and property. He did not identify the site that had been hit.
The LUKOIL-Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez refinery is located in Kstovo and is one of Russia’s largest oil-processing facilities. It has an annual processing capacity of around 17 million metric tons of crude oil.
The refinery produces motor gasoline, diesel, aviation fuel and lubricants, making it an important supplier to the Russian fuel market.
Kstovo’s reported attack follows a drone strike on the Russian city of Ufa in Bashkortostan overnight on October 31. A large fire broke out at a key facility of the Bashneft-Novoil refinery after the attack.
A fire was also reported earlier at the Novokuibyshevsk refinery in the Samara region, which produces fuel for the Russian military. The region had declared a drone threat and temporarily closed its airport before the incident.
