KIYV 09 JULY || UNIPA News-Ukraine’s military said it struck the Lukoil-Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez oil refinery in Kstovo, Russia, during an overnight operation, claiming the attack triggered a fire and damaged a critical oil processing unit at one of the country’s largest refining facilities.
In a statement published on Telegram on Thursday, Ukraine’s General Staff said preliminary information indicated that the refinery’s AVT-6 primary oil processing unit was hit. The military added that the full extent of the damage is still being assessed.
The Lukoil-Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez refinery is among Russia’s largest oil refining plants. It ranks fourth nationwide in refining capacity and second in gasoline production. The facility processes approximately 15 million tons of crude oil annually and produces around 5 million tons of gasoline, supplying fuel to the Moscow region.
Regional authorities confirmed that the Nizhny Novgorod region came under a large-scale Ukrainian drone attack overnight. Governor Gleb Nikitin said approximately three dozen drones targeted the region, with falling debris causing minor damage to an industrial facility and several residential buildings.
According to the governor, one person was killed and four others were injured, including one individual who required hospitalization. Emergency services were deployed to the affected areas.
While Nikitin did not identify the industrial site that was struck, Russian media outlet Astra, citing analysis of eyewitness footage, reported that the damaged facility was the Lukoil-Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez refinery.
The refinery has been targeted multiple times in recent months. Ukrainian drone strikes previously hit the facility in April, May, and June 2026.
The most recent reported attack occurred on June 24, when industry sources said damage to the refinery’s AVT-5 primary processing unit forced a suspension of oil refining operations. The AVT-5 unit reportedly accounts for roughly one-quarter of the plant’s total processing capacity. Before the latest strike, the refinery was reportedly preparing to restore production by increasing output from its remaining processing units.
Ukraine’s General Staff also reported overnight strikes on other Russian military-related targets. These included a storage site for unmanned aerial vehicles near Kamianka in the Zaporizhzhia region and a railway bridge over the Siverskyi Donets River near Stanytsia Luhanska, which Kyiv described as an important Russian logistics route used to transport troops, weapons, and military equipment.
