Photo: Russian media
Satellite imagery has confirmed a fire at the Samara linear production and dispatch station, one of Russia’s largest oil hubs. The facility was attacked overnight on November 2, Bloomberg reported, citing NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS).
Fire at Samara oil hub
Kazakhstan’s Energy Ministry said the country had temporarily suspended crude oil deliveries to Russia through the Atyrau-Samara pipeline following a drone attack early Monday.
In response to questions from Bloomberg, the ministry said pipeline facilities in Russia’s Samara region had been attacked overnight.
“Oil supplies along this route are expected to resume in the near future,” the ministry said.
Neither Ukraine nor Russia has officially confirmed a drone strike on oil infrastructure in the Samara region, located approximately 860 kilometers from Moscow.
Samara region Governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev reported a Ukrainian drone attack in a social media post on Monday.
NASA satellite imagery
An image from NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management System, captured on November 2, showed a relatively recent thermal anomaly, potentially indicating fires at the Samara oil and gas station.
The Samara station is a key hub in Russia’s oil pipeline network, with storage capacity exceeding 1.6 million cubic meters. It handles oil supplies from Western Siberia and Kazakhstan.
The Atyrau-Samara pipeline, which runs toward Russia’s Volga region, is one of Kazakhstan’s main crude oil export routes.
Earlier, another fire was reported at the Samara oil hub on October 7. Ukrainian forces also previously struck oil and gas facilities in Russia’s Samara and Astrakhan regions, damaging storage tanks, pipelines and processing units.
The Samara oil hub, described as Europe’s largest oil storage facility, was also hit by Ukrainian drones overnight on October 2.
