On Monday, a fire that occurred at the Ufimsky oil refinery, one of Russia's largest, was attributed to technical issues and has been successfully extinguished, as confirmed by Russia's emergency ministry. The refinery continued its operations throughout the incident.
It remains unclear if production was halted at any point due to the fire. Bashneft's press service informed Interfax that the blaze did not impact the main production facilities.
Located approximately 1,500 km (932 miles) east of the Ukrainian border, the Bashneft-owned refinery has a daily capacity of 168,000 barrels, according to LSEG data. The oil supply primarily originates from the neighboring regions of Bashkiria and western Siberia.
The regional emergency ministry conveyed that the fire, which ignited near a furnace, was linked to technical malfunctions, as shared on the Telegram messaging app.
Radiy Khabirov, the leader of Bashkortostan, stated that no drone activity was detected, confirming that production continued without disruption.
A video circulated on social media, authenticated by Reuters, depicted the Ufa oil refinery in Bashkortostan ablaze, although the footage's exact date could not be immediately verified.
Authorities reported that no hazardous substances exceeding safety thresholds were detected in the air surrounding the refinery. The fire was effectively extinguished by about 8 a.m. (0500 GMT) with assistance from 100 firefighters, according to Interfax.
While certain Telegram channels indicated a connection between an explosion and the fire, Reuters was unable to independently verify these claims.
No reports of a drone attack on Bashkiria emerged overnight, a region situated between the Volga River and the Ural Mountains.
There has been no immediate response from Ukraine. Notably, Russian forces are suspected of aiming to disrupt Russia's economy and weaken its ability to support the conflict in Ukraine.