A drone attack was reported overnight in Yaroslavl, north-east of Moscow, with social-media footage showing a fire in an industrial district and open-source accounts identifying one of Russia’s largest oil refineries as the apparent target.

Yaroslavl lies more than 700 kilometres from the Ukrainian border. Residents quoted by local Telegram channels reported a succession of loud explosions above the city during the night of 11–12 December, with several accounts putting the number at seven or more.

Before the reported blasts, the Yaroslavl region’s governor, Mikhail Yevrayev, issued an alert warning of a drone threat. Soon afterwards, images circulated online showing a bright glow over the industrial zone and a plume of smoke. The footage could not be independently verified.

Open-source monitoring accounts and Ukrainian media said the fire broke out at the Slavneft-YANOS refinery, also known as Yaroslavnefteorgsintez. A Russia-based independent Telegram channel, Astra, posted photographs and video that appeared to show flames burning at the site on Friday morning.

There was no immediate detailed statement from Russian regional authorities setting out what had been hit, the extent of damage, or whether refinery operations were disrupted. In such incidents, official information has often been limited to air-defence claims, while assessments of damage emerge later through satellite imagery, additional footage, or industrial reporting.

Slavneft-YANOS is one of Russia’s major refining plants. The company says it processes about 15 million tonnes of crude oil annually and produces a range of fuels and petrochemical products, including petrol and diesel meeting Euro-5 standards, jet fuel, bitumen, liquefied gases and other outputs. Rosneft has described Slavneft-YANOS as part of Slavneft, a joint venture of Rosneft and Gazprom Neft, with throughput of more than 15 million tonnes a year.

The incident in Yaroslavl coincided with a wider night of reported drone activity across several Russian regions. Russia’s Ministry of Defence said its air defences destroyed 90 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones overnight over Russian territory and the Black Sea. It did not provide a detailed breakdown in the short statement carried by Reuters, but Russian and Ukrainian outlets cited regional tallies that included interceptions over Bryansk, Yaroslavl and the Moscow region, among others.

Reuters also reported that local authorities in Tver, around 180 kilometres north-west of Moscow, said seven people were injured after an incident linked to the overnight attacks. In Moscow, the mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, said air defences destroyed eight drones flying towards the capital. Sheremetyevo Airport said it suspended departures during the attacks, and Russia’s aviation watchdog said several other airports were briefly closed overnight.

The Yaroslavl reports came a day after Russia described what it said was a large-scale drone attack across multiple regions. On 11 December, Russia’s Defence Ministry claimed it had intercepted 287 drones, with flights diverted from Moscow’s main airports. The extent of damage from that earlier wave was not immediately clear in public reporting.

Ukrainian officials did not comment on the reported strike in Yaroslavl. Kyiv has previously avoided confirming individual attacks deep inside Russia, while continuing to frame its long-range strikes as part of an effort to reduce Russia’s capacity to sustain military operations. Russia, for its part, has continued long-range missile and drone attacks on Ukraine, including repeated strikes on power and transport infrastructure.

Yaroslavl has appeared before in reporting on attempted drone attacks. In January 2024, Reuters cited the regional governor as saying Russian air defences thwarted a drone strike on the Slavneft-YANOS refinery, with no casualties reported.

If confirmed, a successful strike on a major refinery would add to a pattern of attacks on refining and fuel infrastructure. Some Russian plants have reduced runs or suspended operations after drone strikes, while industry sources have tracked outages and the knock-on effects for fuel supply and exports. The operational impact in Yaroslavl, however, remained unclear by late morning on Friday.