Yaroslavl Refinery Halts Crude Processing After Drone Strike Damages Key Unit

The Slavneft Yaroslavnefteorgsintez (YANOS) oil refinery in Yaroslavl has stopped processing crude oil after a Ukrainian drone attack damaged equipment at the site, according to industry sources.

Mikhail Yevrayev, the regional governor, said on Telegram that the region had repelled a large drone raid. He stated that 65 drones were brought down, there were no casualties, and that the refinery had sustained damage while fires were being actively extinguished.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday that Ukraine had struck the Yaroslavl refinery overnight. The facility lies roughly 250 kilometres northeast of Moscow.

The sources said the strike damaged the refinery's primary crude distillation unit AVT-3, which has a capacity of 17,140 metric tons per day and accounts for about 40% of the plant's total processing capacity.

The refinery operates two other primary distillation units: AT-4, with a nominal capacity of 11,430 tons per day (27% of total capacity), and AVT-4, with a capacity of 14,300 tons per day (33% of total capacity). AVT-4 was already undergoing repairs after being damaged in an earlier drone strike on August 28, the sources added.

Slavneft's YANOS press service did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Market participants said fuel produced by the Yaroslavl refinery was not offered for sale on the domestic commodity exchange on Thursday.

YANOS is owned by Slavneft, which is jointly controlled by Rosneft and Gazprom Neft. The refinery has an oil processing capacity of 300,000 barrels per day, or 15 million metric tons per year.

In 2024, the plant processed 14.9 million tons of crude oil, producing 2.6 million tons of gasoline, 4.0 million tons of diesel, and 4.7 million tons of fuel oil, according to industry sources.