Media: Russia’s Bashneft-Ufaneftekhim refinery on fire PHOTO

Smoke has been seen rising over the territory of the Bashneft-Ufaneftekhim oil refinery in Ufa, Russia’s Republic of Bashkortostan, ASTRA reports, citing open-source intelligence – photos taken by eyewitnesses.

Earlier, Bashkortostan had reportedly come under a drone attack.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said it had shot down Ukrainian drones, including over the republic.

Ufa airport was temporarily closed.

Bashneft-Ufaneftekhim is one of the leading oil refineries operated by Rosneft, specialising in deep hydrocarbon processing and the production of a wide range of high-quality fuels, lubricants and aromatic hydrocarbons.

The facility is considered a dual-use site, supplying specialised fuel to Russia’s armed forces as well as petrochemical feedstock for producing defence-grade materials.

The Bashneft-Ufaneftekh refinery also caught fire following an attack on August 1.

Bashneft, owned by Rosneft, operates three major oil refineries in Ufa’s northern industrial zone located virtually next to one another: Bashneft-Ufaneftekhim, Bashneft-Novoil and Bashneft-UNPZ. Together, they form the Ufa Refining Complex, one of Russia’s largest, with a combined capacity of up to 23.5 million tons of crude oil annually.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov