Ukraine Drones Set Yaroslavl Oil Refinery Ablaze

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- Mikhail Evrayev, governor of Russia's Yaroslavl region, said a major oil refinery was set ablaze on August 6 by a massive Ukrainian drone attack, with storage tanks struck by falling drone debris in what he called the biggest enemy attack on Yaroslavl so far.
- Yaroslavl's air defenses intercepted all 93 incoming drones using air defense and electronic warfare units, though four people suffered shrapnel wounds and no fatalities were reported, per Evrayev.
- Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed on Telegram that Ukraine hit two Russian oil refineries overnight — the Bashneft-Novoil refinery in Bashkortostan and the Slavneft-Yanos refinery in Yaroslavl — with no immediate comment from Bashkortostan officials.
- The Slavneft-Yanos refinery in Yaroslavl, roughly 250 km northeast of Moscow, has a processing capacity of 15 million metric tons per year, or around 300,000 barrels per day, and has been targeted by Ukraine before.
- Ukraine's campaign against Russian oil refineries has intensified in recent months, causing fuel shortages that Russian authorities say they have stabilized in most regions but acknowledged persist in some areas.
Why it matters: The Slavneft-Yanos refinery processes roughly 300,000 barrels per day, and its disruption extends a Ukrainian campaign that has already produced fuel shortages across parts of Russia. Hitting two refineries in one night — per Zelenskyy's claim — signals a sustained escalation in Kyiv's long-range strike tempo, with Bashkortostan representing a target deep in Russia's Urals region far from the front lines.
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