Fire Rages at Sibur Petrochemical Plant in Nizhnekamsk After Drone Attack

A fire has broken out at the Nizhnekamskneftekhim plant, owned by the petrochemical company Sibur, after a large-scale drone attack overnight on Sunday, 15 November. The plant is in Nizhnekamsk, a centre of Russia's petrochemical industry in the Republic of Tatarstan. The strike comes amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in which Ukrainian forces have been hitting Russian oil industry facilities.

The incident was reported by Ukrainian monitoring channels on Telegram — Exilenova+, Supernova+ and Falcon Insight Mapp — as well as by the independent Russian online outlet Astra. Astra said eyewitness video shows a huge fire that started as a result of the strike.

What the plant produces

According to Astra, Nizhnekamskneftekhim is one of the largest petrochemical complexes in Europe. The plant is part of the Sibur holding, which produces rubber, plastics and ethylene.

Attack on Taganrog

A large-scale attack also took place overnight on 15 November on Taganrog, a city in Russia's Rostov region. Two electrical substations were damaged there.

Earlier strikes

A post circulated on social media by the news and commentary account NEXTA recalled that a few days earlier Ukrainian forces struck five of Russia's largest oil refineries, in Omsk, Kirishi, Ryazan, Nizhny Novgorod and Yaroslavl. Refineries in Saratov and Novokuibyshevsk were also attacked.

The source gives no information on casualties or the progress of firefighting, nor any comment from Russian officials.