A fire broke out at an industrial facility in Russia's Khanty-Mansi Autonomous District following a drone attack, regional governor Ruslan Kukharuk said on Oct. 16, while Ukrainian activist Serhii Sternenko said the facility was the Surgut Condensate Stabilization Plant.
"As a result of a drone attack on an industrial facility in the Surgut district, a fire broke out. Emergency services are working at the scene," Kukharuk said.
He added that specialists were assessing the scale and nature of the damage. Kukharuk did not identify the facility or say who was responsible for the attack.
"The Defense Forces struck the Surgut Condensate Stabilization Plant," Serhii Sternenko, a Ukrainian activist and volunteer who previously served as an adviser to then-Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, said. The facility is located more than 2,400 kilometers (1,490 miles) from the Ukrainian border.
In videos shared by Ukrainian monitoring channel Exilenova, a large fire and thick dark smoke can be seen on the territory of an industrial facility.
The Kyiv Independent could not independently verify that the facility reportedly hit was the Surgut Condensate Stabilization Plant. Ukrainian officials have not publicly claimed responsibility for the attack.
The Surgut plant processes gas condensate and produces petroleum products, including motor and aviation fuel. Its designed processing capacity reaches 12 million metric tons of raw materials per year, Sternenko said.
The reported strike comes amid a dispute between Kyiv and Washington over Ukrainian attacks on Russia's oil and energy infrastructure.
U.S. President Donald Trump has blamed Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries for rising global fuel prices, a claim disputed by energy experts. His administration also threatened to cut intelligence sharing and weapons support unless Kyiv stopped targeting Russian energy facilities, according to Ukrainian and European officials.
On Oct. 9, Trump announced a deal allowing Russia to supply diesel fuel to the U.S. and global markets despite sanctions imposed following Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Russia subsequently eased restrictions on diesel exports.
Two days later, Trump announced what he described as an "energy ceasefire" between Russia and Ukraine. Ukrainian officials said Kyiv had not been informed of the agreement in advance.
Ukraine initially halted strikes on Russian refineries following the announcement, while Russia continued attacking Ukrainian energy infrastructure. On Oct. 15, Zelensky said that Kyiv had lifted the pause due to Moscow's continued attacks.
"The block is out. We're done," Zelensky said.