A major fire has broken out at an oil refinery in Russia’s city of Volgograd, after what monitoring channels described as a drone strike on industrial infrastructure.

Videos circulating widely on social media showed flames and thick smoke rising from the facility, sparking concern over another escalation targeting energy assets. The unidentified drones struck the site, The Caspian Post reports via Russian media.

The facility may belong to Lukoil, what would be the first such attack of 2026 on the refinery.

Russian authorities had not issued official comments regarding the incident or confirmed the extent of the damage.

The Volgograd refinery has previously been targeted multiple times. Drone attacks were reported there in February 2024, January 2025 (including a repeat strike later that month), as well as in February, March, August 14 and 16, and November 2025.