One of Russia's largest refineries damaged after drone attack
On the night of September 17, in Yaroslavl, as a result of a massive drone attack, the "Slavneft-YANOS" oil refinery was damaged, and fires broke out at the facility. In Rostov-on-Don, Astra, using OSINT analysis, also recorded a large-scale fire on the territory of a military airfield.
Governor of Yaroslavl Oblast Mikhail Yevraev confirmed the damage to the oil refinery. According to him, Russian air defense allegedly shot down 65 drones over the region. Several fires broke out at the facility, with no casualties or injuries, according to local authorities.
Astra, based on eyewitness photographs, identified the attacked facility as the "Slavneft-YANOS" refinery. Later, Russian authorities confirmed the fact of the refinery's damage, although the name of the facility was not specified in the initial report. Subsequently, Yevraev reported that the fire at the plant had been completely extinguished.
"Slavneft-YANOS" is one of the largest Russian oil refining enterprises. According to the plant itself, its installed capacity is about 15 million tons of oil per year. The facility produces Euro-5 standard automotive gasoline and diesel fuel, aviation kerosene and jet fuel, lubricants, bitumen, liquefied gases, and fuel oil.
The plant is the main refining asset of the oil company "Slavneft", which is controlled by "Rosneft" and "Gazprom Neft". In 2026, the facility has repeatedly become a target of attacks. According to Astra's calculations, since the beginning of the year, fires on the refinery's territory after attacks have been recorded at least eight times.
Simultaneously, a massive attack took place in Rostov-on-Don. Local residents posted videos of explosions and a large fire, and Astra, after analyzing the footage, determined that the fire occurred on the territory of the "Rostov-on-Don - Centralny" military airfield. Russian authorities did not separately confirm the damage to a military facility.
Governor of Rostov Oblast Yuri Slyusar stated only about "ground consequences" and a fire, which, according to him, was promptly extinguished. In addition, a transformer substation was damaged, causing power supply disruptions in four districts of Rostov-on-Don at once. No casualties or injuries were reported by local authorities.
At the time of publication, the Ukrainian side had not officially reported on the strikes on the Yaroslavl refinery or the military airfield in Rostov-on-Don.
