The strike marked at least the 15th attack on the Saratov refinery since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, according to the outlet’s count.
Saratov Oblast Governor Roman Busargin confirmed an attack on the region and said “civilian infrastructure was damaged” in Saratov and the neighboring city of Engels. He did not identify the facilities that were hit.
The Saratov refinery is one of Russia’s oldest oil-processing facilities. It processed 4.8 million metric tons of crude oil in 2023.
Drones previously attacked the refinery on July 8. The facility halted oil processing following the strike, Reuters reported the next day, citing two sources familiar with the situation.
The drones struck the refinery’s main CDU-6 crude distillation unit, which has a processing capacity of 20,000 metric tons per day and is the only such unit at the facility, the sources said.
Strikes on Russian oil refineries: What is known
Ukrainian forces had struck 15 Russian oil refineries since the beginning of 2026, disabling nearly 40% of Russia’s primary oil-processing capacity as of May, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on June 1.
Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said on July 1 that the Defense Forces had struck 11 Russian refineries in June alone.
Ukraine’s General Staff confirmed a strike on the Omsk refinery on July 6, nearly 2,500 kilometers, or about 1,550 miles, from the Ukrainian border.
The facility was the last of Russia’s 11 largest gasoline producers that had not previously been struck by Ukraine’s Defense Forces.
The Omsk refinery is also Russia’s largest and has one of the country’s highest oil-processing depth rates, at about 99%.
Fires broke out at oil depots in Tver and Stavropol Krai following drone attacks overnight on July 8-9. Russian authorities confirmed fires at what they described as “industrial facilities.”
Drones also attacked Leningrad Oblast on July 9. The strike may have hit the Kirishinefteorgsintez refinery in Kirishi, the Supernova+ monitoring channel reported.