ASTRA: Drone strike triggers fire at Russian oil pumping station PHOTO

A fire has broken out at the Yaroslavl-3 oil pumping station in Russia’s Yaroslavl Region following a reported UAV strike, according to open-source intelligence analysts.

The OSINT group ASTRA said its assessment, based on photographs and eyewitness images, indicated that the facility was hit during a drone attack, triggering a fire at the site.

The images were reportedly taken from the city of Yaroslavl, around 30 kilometres from the pumping station.

Regional authorities had earlier reported a mass UAV attack on the area, stating that most drones were intercepted but that impacts on industrial fuel infrastructure were recorded. Officials said a fire subsequently broke out and was being extinguished, adding that no casualties had been reported.

The specific facility was not initially named by local officials.

ASTRA later identified the site as the “Yaroslavl-3” pumping station, part of the Yaroslavl District Oil Pipeline Administration, a subsidiary of Transneft — Baltic. The station forms part of the Baltic Pipeline System (BPS-1), which is used to transport crude oil to domestic refineries, including Slavneft-YANOS and export terminals at the port of Primorsk.

On 19 May, regional authorities also reported a strike on an industrial facility followed by a fire. Later, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine stated that the “Yaroslavl-3” station in the Semibratovo settlement had been hit. According to the Ukrainian side, four storage tanks with a total capacity of 140,000 cubic metres were damaged.