Ukrainian drones struck one of Russia’s largest oil refineries — Lukoil-Permnefteorgsintez (PNOS) — on the morning of April 30, according to local public channels and Ukrainian monitoring groups.
Following hits by “Liutyi” UAVs on the AVT-4 unit — a key facility for primary oil refining — a vacuum column caught fire, and the blaze spread to an atmospheric distillation column, according to the OSINT resource KiberBoroshno, which analyzed photos and videos from eyewitnesses. It is noted that PNOS supplies fuel, including to the Russian armed forces, and that damage to both columns has effectively put the unit out of operation. The plant is the eighth-largest refinery in Russia, with a processing capacity of 14 million tonnes per year.
The outlet Astra also reported that, “with a high degree of probability,” the primary oil refining unit (AVT) caught fire following the strikes. Preliminary data suggest that the refinery’s storage tank facilities were also hit.
As a result of the attack, a massive column of smoke rose above the plant, stretching for more than 120 kilometers, according to Perm 36.6, citing a satellite image from NASA Worldview. Eyewitness footage shows the sky over Perm covered with thick black smoke.
A day earlier, Ukraine also struck the “Perm” linear production dispatch station — a key hub in the Transneft system that pumps oil, including to Permnefteorgsintez — and now two massive columns of smoke have formed in the area around the city.
