Ukrainian drones attacked the Rosneft oil refinery in Ryazan on the night of December 6 during a massive raid on the region, Ukrainian monitoring channels and Astra reported, citing local residents. The refinery, which supplies Moscow and the surrounding region and processed 13.1 million tons of crude in 2024—accounting for 5% of Russia’s total refining capacity—was hit for the third time this month and the ninth time since the beginning of the year. The governor, Pavel Malkov, confirmed on Saturday morning that “one of the industrial enterprises” in Ryazan had been struck.
According to Exilenova+, the raid on the Ryazan refinery damaged and put out of service the low-temperature isomerization unit Izomalk-2-LIN-800, which converts straight-run gasoline fractions into a high-octane gasoline component. Supernova+ reports that the “hydroprocessing/catalytic cracking/reforming refinery unit,” considered “key,” was also damaged during the strike. If the damage is severe, it could lead to a shutdown of the plant. The Ryazan refinery, with a design capacity of 17.1 million tons of crude oil per year, is among the largest in Russia and produces gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and aviation kerosene, while also supporting the Russian Aerospace Forces.
The previous strike on the plant, the largest in Rosneft’s network, occurred on the night of November 20, after which part of the refinery was engulfed in flames. According to Reuters, the Ryazan refinery had already been idle even before that attack — since mid-last month. On November 15, Ukrainian drones hit the main processing unit, which accounts for nearly half of the refinery’s total capacity. Meanwhile, another unit, with a capacity exceeding a quarter of the total plant, had been shut down following a drone strike on October 24.
