Russia's Afipsky refinery douses fire caused by drone debris

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Falling debris from a drone in southern Russia sparked a blaze when it hit a unit at the Afipsky oil refinery, but the flames have been put out, regional authorities said on Friday.

An industry source said a primary refining unit had caught fire and was stopped, and the damage has been assessed.

Ukraine has stepped up its drone attacks on Russia's energy infrastructure, such as refineries and export-bound pipelines, causing shortages of some types of fuel, spurring authorities to draw up plans to curb exports of gasoline and diesel.

The Afipsky refinery in Krasnodar region was also hit by a Ukrainian drone at the end of August. The source said another primary unit was damaged at the time and it was put back into operation in the middle of September.

The plant processed 7.2 million metric tons of crude oil (144,000 barrels per day) in 2024 and 3 million tons in January-June 2025, according to industry sources.

(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Louise Heavens)