Smoke rises from the Syzran oil refinery in Russia’s Samara region after Ukrainian drone strikes, July 12, 2026
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In its latest attack on Russia’s economy and 52 1/2-month full-scale invasion, Ukraine has hit a key Russian oil refinery.
Drones reportedly struck the refinery in the city of Syzran in the Samara region, more than 800 km (500 miles) from the Ukrainian border. Photos and videos on social media showed a large blaze and thick black smoke rising from the complex.
The refinery has a processing capacity of around 9 million tons of crude oil per year. It supplies fuel to the Russian Air Force and military units in central and southern Russia, as well as exporting petroleum products via the Volga River and the Caspian Sea.
Ukraine has struck all but one of Russia’s major refineries this year, hitting most of them multiple times.
On Monday, Kyiv struck the largest Russian refinery in Omsk, more than 2,500 km (1,553 miles) from the border, for the first time.
Targets on Friday included the Ilsky Oil Refinery, among the largest in southern Russia; oil infrastructure in the Rostov region in southwest Russia; the oil terminal in the port city of Taganrog on the Sea of Azov; and an oil depot in the nearby town of Azov.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the creation of a “command for long-range, effectively global, impact on Russia…[which] must concentrate 100% of the available resources on degrading Russia’s warfighting potential even more”.
He noted the deepening of Russia’s fuel crisis because of Kyiv’s strikes this year: “Putin’s own circle….understand what is happening and that peace has no alternative. This sentiment in Russia will continue to grow.”
Russian authorities have imposed rationing in more than 50 regions. Crimea, seized from Ukraine in 2014, has banned all fuel sales except to the military and essential services.
On Wednesday, the Kremlin banned the export of diesel. It had halted exports of gasoline in late June.
