A pillar of fire and black smoke rose: photos of a powerful fire at the Lukoil refinery in Russia after a drone attack appeared

In the morning of March 12, a drone attacked the Lukoil-Nizhny Novgorodnefteorgsintez oil refinery in the city of Kstovo, Nizhny Novgorod region of the Russian Federation. The strike hit the oil distillation unit directly, causing a fire.

Lukoil, the company that owns the refinery, announced that it had suspended the operation of the facility "in connection with the incident." They did not specify what kind of incident it was, while the Russians posted footage of the "cotton" online.

According to the regional authorities, "Ukrainian" UAVs attacked the Kstovo industrial zone, namely the fuel and energy complex.

Russian Telegram channels clarified that one drone fell on the territory of the refinery around 05:30 local time. After that, a fire broke out: a column of fire and black smoke rose above the plant, which was visible from a long distance.

Emergency services have arrived at the site of the strike, even a fire train has been brought in. According to preliminary reports, there were no casualties.

The governor of Nizhny Novgorod region, Andrei Nikitin, confirmed later in the morning that an atmospheric-vacuum tube (AVT) unit, one of the main ones for such enterprises, continues to burn at the oil depot.

Lukoil-Nizhny Novgorodnefteorgsintez is one of the largest oil refineries in Russia.

As OBOZ.UA reported, on the night of March 12, explosions were heard in a number of regions of the Russian Federation, which local authorities attributed to a drone attack. In addition to the Nizhny Novgorod region, it was also restless near Belgorod, in Kursk and Orel. The Russian Ministry of Defense announced the "downing of 25 Ukrainian UAVs".

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