Drone assault on Russia's Saratov sparks fire at key oil facility VIDEO

Unknown drones struck the city of Saratov overnight, with local Telegram channels reporting that the region’s oil refinery had come under attack. Official authorities, however, stated only that “civilian infrastructure” had been damaged.

According to RBC-Ukraine, citing Russian Telegram public pages, videos circulating online showed a blaze in the city following the strike. “Now our reporters are filming the fire after the attack in Saratov,” one such channel wrote beneath footage of the incident.

Roman Busargin, the governor of the Saratov region, reported a UAV threat in the area shortly after 02:00 on his Telegram channel. By a little after 05:00, he confirmed that a drone attack had taken place. However, he did not specify the target, saying only that “civilian infrastructure” had been affected.

Local Telegram channels, by contrast, claimed that the drones had hit the oil refinery and made no mention of other civilian facilities. They also reported that a fire had broken out at the refinery.

Saratov hosts an oil refinery that has been struck multiple times by the Ukrainian Defence Forces. A series of explosions occurred over Saratov and Engels on the night of November 11, after which Ukraine’s General Staff confirmed that it had carried out a strike. The refinery was also attacked on the night of October 16, an incident likewise confirmed by the General Staff.

The Saratov refinery is among the oldest in Russia. Two years ago, its oil-processing volume reached 4.8 million tons. The facility is also known to play a role in supplying the Russian armed forces.

By Tamilla Hasanova