Ukraine drones hit Ryazan refinery

Ukrainian drones struck an oil refinery in the Russian city of Ryazan on Friday, according to Ukraine’s drone forces commander and Russian regional officials. Pavel Malkov, the governor of the Ryazan region, said the overnight attack killed three people and injured 12, including children, after drones hit residential buildings and an industrial site. Robert Brovdi, commander of Ukraine’s drone forces, said Ukrainian drones hit the refinery in the city about 200 km (120 miles) southeast of Moscow. Social media videos and photographs published on Friday showed flames and black smoke rising over the area, though the full extent of damage at the refinery was not immediately clear. ### Which refinery was hit in Ryazan? Ryazan is home to Rosneft’s Ryazan Oil Refining Company, one of the largest refineries in Russia. Rosneft says the plant is the largest refinery in the region and produces gasoline, diesel fuel, bitumen and other petroleum products. Industry and trade reports have described the refinery’s processing capacity at about 17.1 million tonnes a year, or roughly 260,000 to 295,000 barrels per day depending on the conversion used. (usnews.com) Reuters reported in earlier coverage that the plant processed about 13.1 million metric tons of crude in 2024, accounting for around 5% of Russia’s total refining throughput. (rosneft.com) ### What did Russian officials say happened overnight? Pavel Malkov said on May 15 that drones damaged two high-rise apartment blocks and that debris from falling drones landed on the grounds of an industrial enterprise. He did not identify the industrial site in his initial statement, but Ryazan is the location of the large refinery. (nsenergybusiness.com) Reuters, citing Malkov, reported that three people were killed and 12 injured in the attack. Unofficial Telegram channels carried images of smoke rising from residential buildings and said some residents were temporarily unable to leave one entrance because of damage. ### What did Ukraine say it hit? Robert Brovdi said on Friday that Ukrainian drones had struck the oil refinery in Ryazan. (usnews.com) He also said his forces hit 23 military targets and facilities in Russia and in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory overnight. Ukraine has often avoided immediate public comment on specific long-range strikes inside Russia, but individual military commanders and later General Staff statements have at times confirmed attacks on fuel and military infrastructure. (usnews.com) In this case, Brovdi’s statement was the clearest direct Ukrainian claim tying the overnight attack to the refinery. (english.alarabiya.net) ### Why does Ryazan keep appearing in strike reports? Ryazan’s refinery supplies fuel products to the region around Moscow and has been identified in previous reporting as an important processing site in Russia’s domestic fuel system. Rosneft says the plant ships petroleum products by rail, pipeline and road transport. Previous Reuters-based reporting said the refinery had already been hit multiple times and that earlier drone strikes had forced unit shutdowns and temporary suspensions of crude processing. (english.alarabiya.net) One November 2025 Reuters report, republished elsewhere, said the plant halted operations after an earlier Ukrainian drone attack. An August 2025 Reuters report said two primary refining units were shut, leaving the plant operating at about 48% of capacity. (rosneft.com) ### Do we know how much output was disrupted this time? May 15 statements did not quantify the loss of refining capacity or identify which processing units, if any, were damaged. Russian officials described an emergency at an industrial site, and videos from Ryazan showed a large fire, but Rosneft had not publicly detailed operational effects in the material reviewed. (oilprice.com) Any clearer estimate is likely to depend on later disclosures from Russian officials, company statements, satellite imagery or industry-source reporting. Brovdi’s statement confirmed the strike claim, but not the scale of refinery damage. ### What should readers watch next? May 15 is the key date for the first official accounts: Malkov’s casualty statement and Brovdi’s claim that Ukrainian drones hit the refinery. (usnews.com) The next concrete updates are likely to come from Rosneft, the Ryazan regional authorities or later industry-source reporting on whether crude-processing units were shut or product shipments interrupted. (english.alarabiya.net)