Top Lukoil Refinery Targeted Again One Week After Ukraine Attack

(Bloomberg) -- An oil refinery in Volgograd, Russia, was attacked Saturday, less than a week after it resumed partial operations following earlier drone strikes by Ukraine.

“In Volgograd, there was an attack by unidentified unmanned aerial vehicles that targeted the refinery,” Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Ukrainian Center for Countering Propaganda, said in a post on Telegram. He didn’t specify the origin of drones but stated that “Volgograd oil refinery is an important target.” 

“This is not the first attack, the Russians are trying their best to protect it,” Kovalenko added.

The Volgograd refinery, operated by Lukoil PJSC’s, is one of the biggest oil-processing facilities in Russia and processes almost 300,000 barrels a day. Currently, most of the gasoline and a large part of the diesel it produces is used domestically. Earlier this month the refinery was hit by Ukrainian drones. 

Lukoil’s press service didn’t reply to a request for comment on Saturday. 

It wasn’t possible to independently verify the claims, but regional governor Andrey Bocharov said that Russian defense forces on the night of Feb. 15 “repelled a massive drone attack on the territory of the Volgograd region,” according to the Telegram account of his administration. 

The Russian Defence Ministry said on Saturday that 130 drones sent from Ukraine to Russia overnight were shot down as the countries intensified attacks on each others’ energy infrastructure this year.

©2025 Bloomberg L.P.