Ukraine has resumed its campaign of drone strikes against Russian oil refineries, ending a pause of about two weeks and striking deep inside Russia on two successive days, according to Russian officials and multiple news reports published on October 31, 2026.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Friday, October 30, that an overnight attack had targeted Russian oil and gas facilities, hitting three oil refineries and one gas-chemical complex. The admission, made on Russian state television, confirmed that the pause in refinery strikes reported earlier in October was over.
Key Takeaways
- Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak confirmed that three oil refineries and one gas-chemical complex were hit in an overnight attack, ending a roughly two-week pause in refinery strikes.
- A fire broke out at the Rosneft-owned Novokuybyshevsk refinery in Russia’s Samara region, with footage showing large columns of smoke rising from the site.
- A further strike was reported on Saturday, October 31, against Bashneft refineries in Ufa, a day after the Samara attack.
Fire at the Novokuybyshevsk Refinery
The most widely reported target was the Novokuybyshevsk refinery in Russia’s Samara region. A major fire erupted at the plant late on Friday night following a drone attack, Ukrainian media reported, and video footage of the aftermath showed several huge columns of smoke billowing into the sky.
The refinery, owned by the state-controlled oil giant Rosneft, produces gasoline, diesel and jet fuel used by the Russian military, according to reports. It had reportedly come under Ukrainian drone attack for a second time this year, after an earlier strike in August. RBC-Ukraine, citing Russian outlet ASTRA, the monitoring channel Exilenova+ and local authorities, reported that explosions and air defence activity were heard across the city before officials declared a drone attack threat, and Samara airport was temporarily shut down.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said its air defences intercepted 1,043 Ukrainian drones across 19 regions during the night, describing it as one of the largest single-wave attacks of the conflict. That figure is Russia’s own claim and has not been independently verified. The Kyiv Independent said it could not independently verify images of the Samara fire or establish the extent of the damage.
Early casualty reporting differed between outlets, with one report citing the Samara governor as saying two men were killed and another citing the governor as saying there were no casualties, so the casualty picture was not settled in early coverage.
The resumption matters because it ends a pause that had held for about two weeks.
Why the Pause Ended
Ukraine last hit a refinery on October 15, according to reports, and no confirmed strikes on Russian refineries had followed for about two weeks. The Wall Street Journal reported on October 29 that Ukrainian long-range strike units had received instructions in mid-October to suspend refinery missions after completing operations already under way, following weeks of pressure from United States President Donald Trump, who sought to lower fuel prices ahead of the midterm elections. Reuters said it could not independently verify that account.
Novak warned that the renewed strikes could reduce supply volumes under a diesel deal struck with Trump, under which Russia shipped about 510,000 tons of diesel in October, according to reports of his remarks. The warning underlines why the refinery campaign has become entangled with wider diplomacy: the strikes aim, in Kyiv’s reported strategy, to disrupt fuel supplies to Russia’s military and cut into the revenue Moscow uses to fund its war, but they also affect fuel markets that Washington has been trying to calm.
The renewed strikes came in the same week that the United States approved a $2.1 billion sale of Patriot missiles to Ukraine, a reminder that military support for Kyiv and pressure over its targeting choices have been running in parallel.
- Three refineries and one gas-chemical complex hit overnight, according to Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak
- Novokuybyshevsk refinery in Samara region caught fire; it produces gasoline, diesel and jet fuel
- Russian Defence Ministry claimed 1,043 drones were intercepted across 19 regions overnight
- No refinery had been confirmed hit since October 15, a pause of about two weeks
- Bashneft refineries in Ufa were reported struck on Saturday, October 31
Ufa Strike Follows a Day Later
On Saturday, October 31, the campaign widened further. Ukraine’s drone forces struck a complex of Bashneft refineries in Ufa, in Russia’s Bashkortostan region, according to Bloomberg, citing a person familiar with the incident who asked not to be identified discussing non-public information. Russian officials had not confirmed any damage, and Rosneft, the refineries’ parent company, did not immediately respond to a Bloomberg request for comment outside normal business hours.
The Ufa region is home to three refineries: Novoil, Ufimsky and Ufaneftekhim. ASTRA, a Russian outlet labelled a foreign agent by Moscow, said the Bashneft-Novoil refinery in Ufa caught fire after a reported drone attack, citing open-source analysis of eyewitness photos.
Ukraine’s General Staff also reported a drone and missile strike on the Kamensky plant in Russia’s Rostov region on Saturday, according to the same Bloomberg report, while Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine struggled to restore electricity after overnight Russian strikes on energy infrastructure.
What to Watch Next
What to watch next is simply what the article has already set out: whether Russia confirms damage at the Ufa refineries, whether further refinery strikes follow in the coming days or the pause returns, whether the diesel supply volumes Novak warned about are affected, and whether the trilateral talks that Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov said Moscow and Washington were coordinating for November in Abu Dhabi go ahead. Until confirmed updates arrive, the verified picture remains the one reported on October 31: the refinery campaign has resumed, Samara and Ufa were both hit, and the two-week pause is over.