Drones strike Tyumen oil refinery in what may be Ukraine’s farthest attack yet

Tyumen Oblast introduced a drone threat alert, and the plant’s staff had to be evacuated, regional Gov. Alexander Moor said on his official Telegram channel.

Moor’s first message appeared at 11:25 a.m. local time. He announced a special threat alert, calling it a “preventive measure,” and urged residents not to approach possible drone debris. The Russian official also separately threatened criminal punishment for posting photos or videos online showing air defense activity or drone crash sites.

Two hours later, at 1:36 p.m., the governor said the drone attack on the Tyumen refinery had allegedly been repelled, while confirming that debris had fallen on the facility’s grounds.

“Emergency service specialists are working at the site where the debris fell. According to preliminary information, the plant was not damaged, and employees have been evacuated. I am keeping the situation under my personal control,” Moor wrote.

Despite the authorities’ assurances that there was no damage, The Moscow Times quickly challenged the official account. Residents of the Antipino neighborhood, where the refinery is located, began reporting at least two powerful explosions on social media.

ASTRA journalists analyzed eyewitness video filmed near the facility and confirmed that a thick column of smoke was rising over the plant. Local residents also recorded a convoy of at least 10 fire engines heading at high speed toward the attacked facility to extinguish a fire.

The Tyumen refinery is the largest oil refining facility in Western Siberia, with a processing capacity of more than 7 million tons of oil a year.

Strikes on Russian refineries and the Kremlin’s economic losses

On June 16, the Moscow refinery caught fire after an attack that damaged a key primary oil refining unit, described as the “heart” of the plant. On June 14, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed long-range strikes on an oil depot in Rybinsk, Yaroslavl Oblast, more than 700 kilometers from the border, and the Azot chemical plant in Tula Oblast. On June 13, Ukraine’s General Staff said a strategic oil preparation workshop in Volgograd Oblast had been hit. On June 11, the Kuibyshev refinery owned by Rosneft in Samara was completely shut down after a large fire caused by a drone raid.

Russian media investigations on June 19 reported that the destruction of hundreds of tons of fuel at storage facilities is disrupting major contracts, while company owners are trying to avoid millions in losses in court by citing “force majeure.”

Forced cuts in domestic refining have also put the Kremlin in a paradoxical position: Russia has been forced to export crude oil in record volumes, while on the domestic market the government is already preparing increases in retail and wholesale prices for gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.