Fire breaks out at oil refinery in Ufa after explosions. Drones downed in several regions of Russia

Ufa residents first reported a massive explosion at a refinery in the city. According to surveillance cameras, it happened on March 3 at 2:38 a.m. local time. Firefighters later confirmed that a fire had broken out there, but did not give a cause.

According to Russian rescuers and Khamitov, the outbreak occurred on the grounds of the enterprise near the incinerator. The fire has already been extinguished, but no one has officially named its cause.

Attention! There is a slur in the video!

The oil refining complex includes three production sites — Bashneft-UNPZ, Bashneft-Novoil, and Bashneft-Ufaneftekhim. OSINT projects geolocated footage of the fire and concluded that the L-24-7 unit on the refinery's premises was hit. Oil product storage facilities were also allegedly struck.

Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry reported the shooting down of seven drones over the Lipetsk, Rostov, and Belgorod oblasts. Bashkortostan, where Ufa is located, was not mentioned.

Background on the Ufa refinery

After this attack, the head of the Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council, Andriy Kovalenko, said that the Ufa Oil Refining Complex is one of the largest in the Russian Federation. It consists of several enterprises, and its total capacity is about 20 million tons of oil per year.

Ufa is one of the largest oil refining centers in Russia. In terms of total refining volumes, the Bashkortostan region is among the top five oil refining centers in the country.

The refinery is of strategic importance to the Russian army, as it is part of a group of enterprises that supply fuel to the armed forces. Its products include aviation fuel, diesel fuel for military equipment, and lubricants necessary for the operation of armored vehicles, aviation, and road transport.