A fire that erupted on Monday at the Ufimsky oil refinery, one of the largest in Russia, was attributed to technical malfunctions and has since been extinguished, according to the Russian emergency ministry. The refinery has reportedly maintained its operations throughout the incident.
It remains unclear whether production was halted at any time during the fire. Bashneft’s press service informed Interfax that the blaze did not impact the primary production facilities.
Located approximately 1,500 km (932 miles) east of the Ukrainian border, the Bashneft-owned refinery has a processing capacity of 168,000 barrels per day, with its oil supply primarily sourced from the surrounding regions of Bashkiria and western Siberia.
The regional emergency ministry indicated via the Telegram messaging app that the fire, which occurred near a furnace, was linked to technical issues based on initial assessments.
Radiy Khabirov, the leader of Bashkortostan, stated that no evidence of drone activity was detected, as reported by Interfax, and confirmed that production was proceeding as usual.
A video shared on social media and authenticated by Reuters depicted the refinery in Ufa, the largest city in Bashkortostan, engulfed in flames, although the exact timing of the footage could not be immediately verified.
Earlier reports from the emergency ministry indicated that no harmful substances exceeding safe levels were detected in the air surrounding the refinery.
Approximately 100 firefighters were involved in extinguishing the fire, which was brought under control around 8 a.m. (0500 GMT), according to Interfax.
Several Russian Telegram channels, including SHOT, suggested that the fire followed an explosion at the facility, but Reuters has not been able to independently confirm these claims.
There were no reports of a drone attack in Bashkiria overnight, a region situated between the Volga River and the Ural Mountains.
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Ukraine has not provided an immediate response. Its military has been known to target Russian energy infrastructure in efforts to disrupt the country’s economy and its capacity to finance the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
