Russia deployed its latest-generation Su-57 stealth fighters to intercept Ukrainian drones during Monday’s attack on the Omsk oil refinery – but the facility was hit despite the effort.During the attack on Russia’s largest refinery that marked Kyiv’s deepest strike into Russia to date – at over 3,000 kilometers (1,864 miles) from the border – online footage from locals has shown the silhouette of the elusive Su-57 shrieking overhead.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official.In one such piece of footage shared by the Ukrainian monitoring channel Exilenova+, the channel said the Su-57s managed to down only one drone, while others reached their targets.
In another video shared by Exilenova+, the channel said the jet was hunting down the drones, with the silhouette of the Su-57 faintly visible up in the sky.
The refinery damaged was Russia’s largest, processing 22 million metric tons of crude oil (about 440,000 barrels per day) in 2024 and producing approximately 5 million tons of gasoline and 8 million tons of diesel.Sources cited by Reuters and Ukrainian monitoring channels confirmed that operations have been halted at the plant, though reports vary as to the extent of damage and the exact refining units struck.With a known number of around 30 units – falling far short of Moscow’s planned delivery of 76 additional airframes by 2027 – the Su-57s have been among Russia’s most elusive, as they are rarely fielded in combat against Ukraine, presumably due to fears of losing one to Ukrainian forces if intercepted.
