WarMay 22, 2026 1:01 pm • 2 min readPhoto for illustrative purposes. The Yaroslavl Refinery, one of the largest facilities of its kind in the country, is located in the Russian city of Yaroslavl, about 280 kilometers (175 miles) northeast of Moscow. (Artem Zhitenev/Getty Images)President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed on May 22 that Ukraine had carried out long-range drone strikes against Russian oil infrastructure, including an oil refinery in Yaroslavl. The attack on the Yaroslavl oil refinery was the fourth in May, with the facility previously hit on May 8, 13 and 19."We are bringing the war home to Russia, and this is entirely fair," Zelensky said on X, adding that the target was located about 700 kilometers (435 miles) from the Ukrainian border."We are also preparing other forms of our long-range sanctions and midrange strikes in response to Russian attacks on our cities and communities." Footage shared on social media by Telegram channels and OSINT analysts from Russian independent media outlet Astra suggested the overnight attack targeted the Slavneft-YANOS refinery in Yaroslavl, one of Russia's five largest oil refineries, with an annual processing capacity of about 15 million tons.Telegram channel Exilenova+ earlier on May 22 posted footage showing a bright flash in the refinery area overnight. Astra analysts geolocated the video to Frunze Avenue in Yaroslavl, about seven kilometers from the refinery.Russian authorities did not officially confirm any strike on industrial infrastructure, though temporary road restrictions were introduced in the area during the attack. Yaroslavl Oblast Governor Mikhail Evraev claimed Russian air defenses had repelled the drone strike and said there were no casualties or damage.Kyiv considers energy facilities to be valid military targets, as the energy sites provide fuel and funding for the Kremlin's war machine.Ukraine's forces have struck Russian oil refineries 158 times since the start of Russia's full-scale war, according to data compiled by the Poland-based media outlet Vot Tak. At the same time, nearly all major oil refineries in central Russia have been forced to halt or scale back fuel output in recent days following Ukrainian drone attack, Reuters reported on May 20, citing official data and its sources.