UFA — A fire was reported at an oil refinery in Ufa, the capital of Russia's Bashkortostan region, after drones attacked the city on Saturday morning, according to reports by the Russian outlet ASTRA and Ukrainian monitoring channels, a day after Ukraine resumed strikes on Russian refineries following a pause of about two weeks.

Source: Kyiv Independent via EuropeSays

ASTRA, a Russian outlet that Moscow labels a 'foreign agent', said open-source analysis of eyewitness photographs indicated that the Bashneft-Novoil refinery had caught fire and that a catalytic reforming unit known as the L-35 was likely burning, the Kyiv Independent reported. Residents reported several explosions on Saturday morning, a column of smoke and internet disruptions after a drone alert overnight, and the monitoring channel Exilenova+ reported fires at two of the three refineries in Ufa's northern industrial zone, according to the same report.

Source: Kyiv Independent via EuropeSays

A drone hazard alert was declared across Bashkortostan on Saturday morning, announced by Kirill Pervov, head of the republic's State Committee for Emergency Situations, and Ufa airport temporarily suspended arrivals and departures because of the threat, Ukrainian media reported. Separately, the Kyiv Independent reported that Exilenova+ had reported explosions in an industrial area of Ufa and claimed Russian air defences were operating amid a possible drone attack, and that Bashkortostan authorities had declared a drone threat and imposed temporary flight restrictions at the airport, according to Russian media.

Source: UkrMedia

One of Russia's largest refining complexes

Rosneft-owned Bashneft operates three adjacent refineries in Ufa's northern industrial zone — Bashneft-Ufaneftekhim, Bashneft-Novoil and Bashneft-UNPZ — forming one of Russia's largest refining complexes, with a combined capacity of about 23.5 million tonnes of crude a year, according to ASTRA. Bashneft-Novoil produces gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and industrial oils. A fire was previously reported in Ufa's refinery zone on September 21, 2026.

At the time of the reports, Russian authorities had not confirmed that any refinery had been hit or the extent of any damage, and there was no information about casualties. The Kyiv Independent said it could not independently verify whether any facility had been damaged.

A day after the refinery pause ended

The reported Ufa attack came a day after Ukrainian drones struck the Novokuibyshevsk refinery in Russia's Samara region early on Friday, the first reported strike on a Russian refinery since October 15. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Friday that Ukrainian drones had attacked three Russian oil refineries and one gas-chemical complex that day, and described the damage at one plant as minor. The Wall Street Journal had reported on October 29 that Ukraine's military had paused refinery strikes after weeks of pressure from US President Donald Trump, who has argued that the attacks push up global fuel prices.