A fire broke out at one of Russia’s largest oil refineries in the Yaroslavl region north of Moscow on Wednesday morning in what authorities described as a “man-made” incident unrelated to Ukrainian drone strikes.
“Residents were concerned this could be the result of an enemy drone attack. But what happened has nothing to do with it,” Yaroslavl region Governor Mikhail Yevrayev wrote on Telegram.
Local media published eyewitness videos showing a thick plume of black smoke against the skies around the area of the Slavneft-Yanos refinery in the city of Yaroslavl.
Yaroslavl is located over 240 kilometers (150 miles) northeast of Moscow and 700 kilometers (430 miles) from the border with Ukraine.
Yevrayev said no drone strikes were recorded over his region on Wednesday.
Slavneft said firefighters extinguished the blaze after four hours and the refinery had resumed its operations.
Slavneft, which is owned jointly by Rosneft and Gazprom Neft, describes itself as one of Russia’s 10 largest crude oil producers. Reuters estimates the refinery’s annual capacity at 15 million metric tons, or 300,000 barrels per day.
It was last attacked by Ukrainian drones in January 2024.
Ukraine has intensified drone strikes on Russian oil refineries since early August, triggering nationwide fuel shortages.
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