Ukraine struck an oil refinery in Russia’s Samara region  after a two-week pause in strikes on Russian oil-processing facilities that had come after the Trump administration pressured Kyiv to halt such operations citing rising global fuel prices ahead of the midterms.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the unofficial pause in Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil facilities was initially expected to last until after the US midterm elections on November 3.

A major fire broke out after a Ukrainian drone attack on the Novokuybyshevsk Oil Refinery, sending columns of smoke rising into the sky over the refinery. 

A 16-second dashcam video shot from inside a moving vehicle on a paved two-lane road shows the fire near the Novokuybyshevsk oil refinery.

Multiple thick, tall columns of dark gray smoke rose high into the sky. 

The refinery, which is owned by Russian state-controlled oil company Rosneft, has come under Ukrainian drone attack for the second time this year after August.

The Novokuybyshevsk Oil Refinery processes approximately 8.8 million metric tonnes of crude oil and produces aviation fuel, gasoline, diesel, lubricants and other petroleum products.

Kyiv has targeted Russian refineries, fuel depots, and energy sites with long-range strikes to choke off military fuel and cut the financial inflows funding the war.

The August Strike On Novokuybyshevsk Oil Refinery

Ukrainian forces carried out long-range strikes against the Novokuybyshevsk facility in August, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced at the time, as Kyiv was ramping up attacks on Russia’s energy sector.

“Over the past 24 hours, our forces struck the Novokuybyshevsk refinery – 1,000 kilometers from the front line – depriving the Russian war machine of millions of dollars in export revenues,” Zelensky wrote in a post on social media on 22 August, while sharing a clip seemingly showing the aftermath of the strike.