Yaroslavl Region Governor Mikhail Yevrayev said two plant employees were hurt in the fires at the Novo-Yaroslavl Oil Refinery (PJSC Slavneft-YANOS).
Astra earlier published eyewitness footage showing at least seven seats of fire — five large and two smaller. Ukrainian monitoring Telegram channels are circulating video of the blaze and of air defense operations near the plant.
Before the attack, Yevrayev announced a drone alert and then a missile alert. He did not name the target that was struck but mentioned traffic restrictions on the road out of Yaroslavl toward Moscow. The refinery lies in that direction. Local outlet 76.ru warned of changes to public transport routes running near the plant.
Slavneft-YANOS is among Russia's five largest refineries, with a capacity of more than 15 million tonnes of oil a year. It produces gasoline, diesel, aviation kerosene and other petroleum products, supplying the Moscow region, airports and Russian defense industry facilities. The plant belongs to Slavneft, which is controlled on an equal basis by Rosneft and Gazprom.
According to The Moscow Times, this is the second attack on the plant since the start of autumn. On September 17, after a drone raid, an oil processing unit that provided about 40% of the plant's capacity was damaged, after which the refinery halted operations. In late October, Ukrainian forces resumed strikes on Russian refineries after a two-week pause tied to US President Donald Trump's demand that the attacks stop. On October 30, Rosneft's Novokuibyshevsk refinery was hit; on October 31, Bashneft's refinery in Ufa; on November 1, Lukoil-Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez in the Nizhny Novgorod Region; and on November 2, the Samara linear production and dispatch station, Transneft's largest transport and distribution hub.
The day before, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with Fox News that Kyiv could stop strikes on Russian refineries if the United States provides missiles for Patriot air defense systems. He named the end of Russian attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure as another condition.