Ukraine sets Samara oil refinery ablaze and kills one in overnight drone strikes deep inside Russia

From the Newshound archive · first published 22 September 2026.

Ukrainian drones set the Kuibyshev oil refinery in Samara ablaze overnight, with huge fireballs and dense black smoke visible across the city, which lies more than 1,000 km from Moscow. Drones also struck private homes and vehicles, leaving one person dead and four injured, according to local governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev. Russia claims its air defences broke up a broader attack on Samara itself, while Russian forces hit industrial targets in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia in a simultaneous strike, killing four people.

The Kuibyshev plant has an annual throughput of around 3.7 million tonnes of oil and is a direct fuel supplier to Russia's military-industrial sector.

Ukraine has now hit the refinery twice — a June attack brought operations there to a complete halt.

The strike comes a day after Ukraine launched its 'largest ever' drone barrage on Moscow, during which 450 drones were shot down before reaching the capital.