Drones set fire to Lukoil's Kstovo refinery in Russia's Nizhny Novgorod region

In brief

• Ukrainian drones struck the Lukoil refinery in Kstovo, Nizhny Novgorod region, overnight into 1 November, starting a large fire.
• The governor confirmed significant damage to an unnamed industrial facility; no injuries were reported.
• The refinery has a design capacity of about 17 million tonnes of oil a year.
• The strike came amid US pressure on Ukraine to halt attacks on Russian refineries over fuel prices.

Attack on the Kstovo refinery

Drones hit the Lukoil-Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez refinery in Kstovo, Nizhny Novgorod region, in the early hours of 1 November, and a large fire broke out at the plant (Ukrainas droni aizsvilinājuši naftas pārstrādes rūpnīcu Kstovā – DELFI.lv) (Ukrajinské drony zasiahli ruskú rafinériu, spôsobili rozsiahle škody – Aktuality.sk) («Конфеты или смерть». В Fire Point подтвердили удар по Кстовскому НПЗ – NV). Ukraine's defence company Fire Point confirmed the strike on its Telegram channel. Residents reported explosions, and footage of a major blaze spread on social media from about 04:11 (Кстовський НПЗ у Росії потрапив під атаку: спалахнула масштабна пожежа – Українська правда) (Дрони атакували НПЗ у Нижегородській області РФ, спалахнула масштабна пожежа – Espreso).

Nizhny Novgorod governor Gleb Nikitin said more than a hundred drones had targeted the region overnight and that an industrial enterprise in Kstovo district had suffered significant damage. He did not name the facility and reported no casualties (Украинские беспилотники атаковали НПЗ в Кстово Нижегородской области, на предприятии начался пожар – Meduza).

Damage and a possible second target

Monitoring channels said the fire began near the AVT-6 and AVT-5 crude distillation units and a visbreaker, judging by early footage. Air defences had repelled earlier attacks on the site, but drones got through this time, according to monitoring sources.

Exilenova+ also reported a possible strike on the Novogorkovskaya thermal power plant in Kstovo, which supplies energy to local industry, including petrochemical plants. That claim has not been confirmed.

Plant profile

The refinery is among Russia's largest. Its design capacity is about 17 million tonnes of oil a year, which ranks it fourth among Russian refineries, and it is second for automobile gasoline output. It has been hit by Ukrainian drones before, and those strikes damaged its primary crude processing unit, according to satellite thermal data analysed by Meduza.

Wider context

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly urged Kyiv to stop strikes on Russian refineries, arguing they push up fuel prices. The Wall Street Journal reported on 29 October that Ukraine had paused the attacks under Washington's pressure, yet the Novokuibyshevsk refinery in Samara region was hit the same night. Ukraine's Defence Forces resumed refinery strikes on 31 October after a two-week pause, hitting the Bashneft-Novoil refinery in Ufa.

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