Syzran oil refinery halts operation after May 21 Ukrainian drone strike, Ukraine's General Staff reports

Editor's note: The article was updated on May 26 to reflect the General Staff's statement on the Syzran oil refinery shutting down.

An oil refinery in the Russian city of Syzran in the Samara Oblast had shut down following a May 21 Ukrainian drone strike, the General Staff confirmed on May 26.

"The Ukrainian Defense Forces will continue to systematically take measures to compel the Russian Federation to cease its armed aggression against Ukraine," the General Staff said in a statement on Telegram.

Russia has not reacted to the General Staff's claim as of the publication time.

President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed on May 21 that long-range Ukrainian drones hit the Syzran oil refinery overnight, located more than 800 kilometers (500 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

"This is yet another of our long-range sanctions against the Russian oil refining industry, and we will continue along this path," Zelensky said.

The refinery has a processing capacity of approximately 9 million tons of crude oil per year and supplies fuel to the Russian Air Force and military units in central and southern Russia, while also exporting petroleum products via the Volga River and the Caspian Sea.

The mission was carried out by operators from the 1st Separate Center and the 413th Regiment of Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces in coordination with Special Operations Forces.

The strike sparked a large fire at the facility, though the full extent of the damage is still being assessed, Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces said.

Local residents earlier reported that the oil refining unit at Rosneft's Syzran Oil Refinery was struck in the Ukrainian attack, according to independent Telegram news channel Exilenova Plus.

Two people were killed in the Ukrainian drone attack, Samara Oblast Governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev later said.

The reports could not be immediately verified by the Kyiv Independent.

Syzran, Samara Oblast's third largest city, is located about 700 kilometers (440 miles) northeast of Ukraine's border with Russia.

Ukraine regularly strikes military infrastructure deep within Russia and the occupied territories in an effort to diminish Moscow's capacity to continue waging its war.

Kyiv considers energy facilities to be valid military targets, as the energy sites provide fuel and funding for the Kremlin's war machine.

All of central Russia's major oil refineries have completely halted or rolled back production following recent Ukrainian drone strikes, Reuters reported May 20.

On May 18-19, Ukraine struck one of Russia's largest oil refineries and an oil pumping station, Ukraine's General Staff said, after Russian officials reported drone attacks in Yaroslavl Oblast and near Moscow.

Ukrainian forces targeted the Lukoil-Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez oil refinery in Kstovo, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, the General Staff said, where a fire was recorded on the facility's territory on May 18.

On May 20, Ukraine struck one of Russia's largest oil refineries near the town of Kstovo, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Ukraine's General Staff said — marking the second reported hit on the site within a week.

An AVT-6 oil refining unit was hit, leading to a subsequent fire at the Lukoil-Nizhegorodorgsintez refinery, according to the General Staff.