Drones attack Kstovo refinery in Russia, large fire erupts

Drones targeted the Lukoil-Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez oil refinery in Kstovo, Russia, on the night of October 31 into November 1, according to monitoring sources. Local residents began uploading video footage of a massive blaze around 4 a.m., accompanied by reports of explosions. The monitoring channels confirmed that the refinery was struck, leading to simultaneous fires in multiple locations.

Despite Russian air defenses thwarting previous assault attempts, the drones successfully reached the facility. Exilenova+ also reported a potential attack on the Novogorkovskaya thermal power plant in Kstovo, which provides energy to local industry, including petrochemical enterprises. Lukoil-Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez ranks fourth among Russian refineries in terms of design capacity, with a yearly output of approximately 17 million metric tons of oil, and second for motor gasoline production. On August 26, Kstovo also experienced drone strikes on another oil refinery.