Ukrainian drones strike Russia's Syzran oil refinery, Kyiv says

Ukrainian drones struck Russia’s Rosneft-owned Syzran oil refinery deep inside the Samara region, causing a large fire and marking another long-range attack on Russian energy infrastructure. Kyiv said the strike is part of an ongoing campaign targeting oil refineries, with the facility becoming the 11th such site hit in May.

Anna Pruchnicka/Reuters

21 May 2026 at 09:18:00

Ukrainian drones strike Russia's Syzran oil refinery, Kyiv says

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy arrives to attend an informal European leaders' summit in Ayia Napa, Cyprus April 23, 2026.

Yiannis Kourtoglou/Reuters

Ukrainian drones struck Russia's Rosneft-owned Syzran oil refinery in Samara region overnight, Ukrainian military and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday.

"Another Ukrainian long-range sanction against Russian oil refining – and we are continuing this line of action," Zelenskiy said on the Telegram messaging app.

"This time around, it was the Syzran oil refinery – more than 800 kilometers away from our border."

Zelenskiy posted footage of a fire and smoke billowing into the sky.

Two people were killed in a drone attack on the town of Syzran in Samara region, the local governor said, without mentioning whether any infrastructure was damaged in the attack.

Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces said the attack caused a large fire at the refinery, whose annual processing capacity ranges from 7 to 8.9 million tons of crude oil.

The commander of the Ukrainian drone forces, Robert Brovdi, said it was the 11th Russian oil refinery targeted by Ukraine during May.

-Anna Pruchnicka/Reuters