Towering smoke over Russia's Yaroslavl as oil refinery burns VIDEO

On the morning of 1 October, a large fire broke out at an oil refinery in Yaroslavl, sending a towering column of smoke visible across the city. 

According to Russian media reports, local residents are seeing thick black smoke rising above Moskovsky Prospekt, highlighting the scale of the blaze. Videos and photos capturing the incident have been widely shared in Russian public groups.

The Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations confirmed that the fire was first reported at 06:28 local time. Authorities have not yet disclosed the cause of the fire, and details regarding the scale of the damage or potential casualties are still being investigated.

The region's governor, Mikhail Evraev, addressed residents’ concerns on Telegram, emphasising that the fire was not caused by a drone attack. “There were no drone attacks in the Yaroslavl region today,” Yevraev wrote. He clarified that the incident was man-made and that emergency and special services were already handling the situation.

The Russian Ministry of Defence also confirmed there were no drone attacks over Yaroslavl today. According to the military department, air defence forces intercepted and destroyed 20 drones over Russian regions last night, including eight over the Belgorod and Rostov regions, three over Saratov, and one over Voronezh.

Evraev also recalled that the last drone attack reported in Yaroslavl occurred on September 28, when three drones were shot down approaching the city. That incident caused minor damage to the roof of a residential building, but no injuries were reported.

By Tamilla Hasanova