May 22, 2026
Ukraine targeted overnight the Yaroslavl oil refinery in Russia, escalating the drone attacks on Russian refining and oil exporting assets, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday.
“Today, there was a report by Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi on the use of long-range drones against Russian oil refining and export assets,” Zelenskyy wrote on social media.
“In particular, overnight, the Defense Forces of Ukraine operated against targets associated with the Yaroslavl oil refinery – about 700 kilometers from our territory,” the Ukrainian President said without specifying whether the refinery has been damaged.
“We are bringing the war back home – to Russia – and that’s only fair,” Zelenskyy added.
The attack on the Yaroslavl oil refinery, co-owned by Gazprom Neft, was the fourth on the facility in one month, as Ukraine looks to diminish Russia’s refining and export capabilities amid soaring international oil and fuel prices.
A satellite image taken by a NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management System satellite shows a heating anomaly at the refinery, which suggests that there may be a blaze at the site, Bloomberg reports.
The attack on the 300,000-barrels-per-day Yaroslavl refinery was carried out hours after Ukrainian drones hit the Syzran oil refinery in Russia’s southwestern Samara region operated by Rosneft.
Zelenskyy on Thursday posted footage of fire and smoke at a facility and captioned the post with “Another Ukrainian long-range sanction against Russian oil refining – and we are continuing this line of action.”
Since international crude oil prices surged following the war in the Middle East, Russia has boosted its oil revenues as not only prices have jumped, but Russian oil was made desirable in India again, thanks to U.S. waivers for sales of Russia’s crude already loaded on tankers.
Ukraine is intensifying attacks at Russian refineries and oil export ports as Kyiv looks to limit Russia’s oil exports and revenues.
Oilprice.com
