Drones struck an oil refinery in the Russian city of Orsk, Orenburg region, on Friday, Oct. 3, Ukrainian officials said.
A source in Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) told Kyiv Post that strike drones of the “Alpha” special operations unit carried out the attack.
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“The SBU continues to inflict serious damage on Russia’s economy by targeting oil and gas facilities. Reducing oil revenues directly impacts the Kremlin’s ability to finance the war. Nearly 40% of Russia’s refinery capacity is already idle, and we will keep working to increase that figure,” the source said.
The refinery, one of the largest in Russia’s Orenburg region, processes up to 6.6 million tons of crude annually and produces around 30 types of fuel and lubricants, including gasoline, diesel, jet kerosene, fuel oil, and bitumen. Reports said the strike prompted an evacuation at the plant, while Orsk city officials urged residents not to panic.
Orsk is located about 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) from the Ukrainian border.
The monitoring Telegram channel Exilenova+ reported that several “Liutyi” drones were used in the strike.
The development of the Lyutyi drone was first publicly announced by the Ukrainian state defense enterprise “Ukroboronprom” in October 2022. The agency stated its intention to create an attack drone weighing over 200 kilograms (440 pounds) with a 75-kilogram (165-pound) warhead and a range of more than 1,000 kilometers (625 miles).
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BBC News Ukraine reported that the Lyutyi drone was first launched into Russian territory in May 2023, with serial production beginning at the end of the summer.
A source in the Ukrainian government involved in the drone’s development told journalists that Lyutyi is a unique analogue of the Iranian Shahed kamikaze drone. It has high jamming resistance and is capable of changing altitude during flight depending on the terrain.
The Orsknefteorgsintez plant produces gasoline, diesel fuel, jet kerosene, fuel oil, bitumen and lubricants. In recent years, the facility has undergone large-scale modernization.
In 2018, the refinery launched a hydrocracking complex to improve processing depth and fuel quality. Between 2020 and 2021, the construction of a delayed coking unit was completed. The total cost of the modernization program exceeded 70 billion rubles (around $750 million), according to Oboz.ua media.