Ukraine launched a drone attack on an industrial facility in Russia’s Samara region targeting the Novokuibyshevsk oil refinery, a key supplier of fuel, Ukrainian officials said on Monday.
According to reports, the strikes on the plant occurred around 02:00 a.m. local time and were heard in several districts of the city.
⚡️GUR drones attacked a refinery in the Samara region of russia , – Channel 24 sources in the GUR.
The Novokuibyshevsk refinery in the Samara region, which, among other things, produces fuel for jet engines of supersonic aircraft (Su-27, Tu-22MZ, and others), was under attack.… pic.twitter.com/ofL9aVSKZw
— GMan (Ґленн) ☘️🇬🇧🇺🇦🇺🇸🇵🇱🇮🇱🍊🌻 (@FAB87F) March 10, 2025
Andriy Kovalenko, a spokesman for Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, in a post on Telegram said the attack specifically targeted the Novokuibyshevsk refinery, which he said is “strategic” in supplying high-grade fuel for Russian military aircraft, including the Su-27 and Tu-22M3 bombers, which have been used in missile strikes against Ukraine.
The Novokuibyshevsk refinery is the largest among the Samara-based plants owned by Rosneft, Russia’s state-owned oil giant. Its capacity exceeds 8.8 million tonnes of oil per year.
The refinery had previously halted operations temporarily following a similar Ukrainian drone strike in March 2023.
Samara region Governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev said three drones were intercepted over the city of Novokuibyshevsk, with no resulting damage or fires. “It was a failure,” Fedorishchev wrote on social media.
However, Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry reported that firefighters were battling a blaze following the incident. Video footage released by the ministry showed emergency crews responding to flames and thick smoke inside a large industrial warehouse.
Last night, Ukraine conducted a successful UAV strike on the #Novokuybyshevsk oil refinery, which produced aviation fuel in addition to others, in the #Samara region of Russia.#OSINT #Russia #UkraineWar pic.twitter.com/7N6HiTSsr6
— OSINT Intuit 🇺🇸 🇨🇦 🇬🇧 🇺🇦 🇮🇱 🇬🇪 (@UKikaski) March 10, 2025
Meanwhile, in the Volga River region of Chuvashia, a Ukrainian drone struck the Kombinat Burevestnik industrial facility in Cheboksary, some 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) from Ukraine’s border.
Chuvashia Governor Oleg Nikolayev confirmed the incident but provided no details about the extent of the damage.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Russia has intercepted 88 Ukrainian drones across multiple regions.
The majority—52—were downed over Belgorod, a border region that has been a frequent target of Ukrainian strikes. Other drones were intercepted over Lipetsk, Voronezh, Astrakhan, Krasnodar, Ryazan, and Kursk, according to reports.
The recent Ukrainian strikes come amid reports that Russia has already captured four settlements in the Kursk region—Malaya Lokhnya, Cherkasskoye Porechnoye, Kositsa, and Lebedevka—following the U.S. announcement to halt intelligence aid to Ukraine. Several reports suggest that Ukraine’s position in Kursk has significantly worsened since the pause in U.S. support.
According to a Time Magazine article citing five senior Western and Ukrainian officials, the U.S. decision to stop providing intelligence assistance has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers in recent days.
