On July 25, a fire broke out at the Tyumen Oil Refinery (formerly the Antipinsky plant) following a drone strike. The facility sits more than two thousand kilometers from the Ukrainian border, and the attack coincided with the city's 440th anniversary celebrations.
Blaze at Tyumen Refinery
A drone crashed onto the refinery grounds, igniting a fire. The unmanned aerial vehicles used were upgraded FP-1 models, capable of reaching distances up to 3,400 kilometers. The target was the Exilenova+ diesel deep‑processing unit, which was protected by an anti‑drone net. The fire erupted on that very unit.
The governor of the Tyumen region stated: 'As a result of the UAV attack, an enemy drone fell on the territory of the Tyumen Refinery. A fire started. Emergency services are working at the scene.'
The Tyumen Refinery processes over nine million tons of crude oil annually with a 98% conversion depth. It produces diesel fuel, AI‑95 and AI‑92 gasoline, propane‑butane, petroleum coke, and sulfur. However, the plant's modernization—including a hydrocracker—was halted due to the owner's financial difficulties.
Regional Impact
Footage of the fire was published by local channels and shared by monitoring resources Exilenova+ and Supernova+. The video shows a large blaze at one of the processing units and a column of smoke at another location. The official livestream of the city administration’s VKontakte page cut off during the celebrations.
Earlier, drones hit the Omsk Refinery for the first time—located 2,500 kilometers from the border. Two days before that, drones reached Bashkiria and the Ulyanovsk region. Reports indicate that drone strikes are halting processing at Russian refineries. This incident underscores a broader trend of using drones to attack critical infrastructure within Russia. The fire at the Tyumen plant could have serious consequences for fuel supply, as the refinery is a key player in the sector. Such events may also heighten regional tensions and prompt tighter security at other industrial sites.
The recent drone attack on the Tyumen Oil Refinery highlights a disturbing pattern of strikes against Russian energy facilities, as evidenced by a previous incident involving the country's largest refinery, situated 2,500 kilometers from Ukraine. Such events raise questions about the ongoing vulnerability of critical infrastructure across Russia. For more details on the earlier attack and its implications, see how drones are reshaping the landscape of energy security in the region in this report.