On August 26, 2026, the Lukoil-Nizhnekamsknefteorgsintez (NORSI) oil refinery in the city of Kostovo, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, suspended crude oil processing following a Ukrainian drone attack. Regional Governor Gleb Nikitin reported damage to an industrial facility in the region, and some time later the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces confirmed that the target of the strike was one of the largest plants in Russia's oil refining sector.
Confirmation of the Strike Target
Initially, regional authorities limited themselves to a general statement about damage to an "unspecified industrial facility." However, the Ukrainian General Staff later clarified that the target was specifically NORSI — the second-largest gasoline producer and the fourth-largest refinery by capacity in Russia. According to RBC-Ukraine, on the night of August 26 the Ukrainian Defense Forces struck the plant, and a fire broke out on its premises as a result of the hit.
All of Lukoil's Major Plants Halted
The strike on NORSI was the final one in a series of attacks after which, according to available data, all of the major Russian refineries of the company LUKOIL have ceased operations. The Perm Refinery was halted on August 21 following a drone attack, and the Volgograd Refinery on July 31. Earlier, on August 14, Ukrainian drones attacked nearly a third of the country's major oil refineries. It is separately noted that PAO "Orsknefteorgsintez" — one of Russia's leading refineries — has been fully shut down following Ukrainian strikes.
Production Capacity and Recovery Timelines
NORSI is capable of processing around 15 million metric tons of crude oil per year, which makes it a critically important asset for the domestic fuel market. Sources, however, were unable to specify timelines for repairing the damage and resuming processing operations at the plant. This means that losses in gasoline and other petroleum product output may persist for an indefinite period.
Contradictory Data
Assessments of the scale of the damage and the dating of events vary among sources. For instance, the German outlet DW characterizes the consequences of the attack as a halving of the Lukoil plant's capacity, whereas other reports speak of a full suspension of crude oil processing at NORSI. In addition, a pravda.com.ua article describing a drone attack on a refinery in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast with a fire is dated, according to the link, May 2026 (2026/05/20), which does not match August 26. This may indicate either separate incidents in the same region or a dating inaccuracy in certain publications, so the exact extent of the damage and the chronology of strikes on this plant should be considered partially unconfirmed.
