Explosions Hit Russia’s Belgorod, Almetyevsk

Residents across Russia reported a series of explosions overnight on Monday, with media and officials confirming that some targeted oil and power facilities.

The facilities include a substation in the Belgorod region bordering Ukraine, and an oil pumping station in the Tatarstan Republic.

Blackouts reported in Belgorod

On Sunday evening, Belgorod Regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov reported a combined drone and missile strike on the region, which he said persisted throughout the day.

“All day long, air defense forces, the Ministry of Defense, BARS-Belgorod, Orlan, the Self-Defense Forces, and the Russian National Guard have been repelling missile strikes, as well as a massive drone attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on Belgorod, the Belgorod District, and the entire border region!” Gladkov wrote.

At 11:26 p.m., Gladkov reported “significant damage to energy infrastructure,” adding that the full extent of the damage will be assessed on Monday.

Russia’s independent outlet Astra, citing local reports, shared footage of the explosions and said Ukraine struck the Frunzenskaya electrical substation.

Russia’s Ministry of Defense claimed to have intercepted 15 drones heading to the Belgorod region between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. on Sunday.

Transneft pumping station hit in Tatarstan

Locals also reported explosions in Almetyevsk, a city in Russia’s Tatarstan some 1,100 kilometers (684 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

Astra, citing local reports, said fires and explosions occurred on Monday morning.

In another video shared by Astra, a ball of flame shot up into the sky, while the site continued to emit thick clouds of black smoke as daylight broke, according to footage shared by the Russian monitoring channel Supernova+.

Open-source analysts from Astra asserted that the attack took place at the Kaleikino oil pumping station near Almetyevsk.

“On the night of Feb. 23, residents of Almetyevsk, Tatarstan, reported multiple explosions and a fire. ASTRA geolocated two videos from the scene. According to our analysis, the attack resulted in the fire at an oil pumping station (OPS) located near the village of Kaleikino in Almetyevsk, Tatarstan,” the outlet wrote.

“The facility is owned and operated by Transneft-Prikamye JSC, a regional division of Transneft PJSC,” it added, referring to Russia’s state oil pipeline monopoly Transneft.

Supernova+ described the station as “one of the key starting oil pumping stations… where oil actually enters the famous Druzhba pipeline.”

The channel was referring to the pipeline that once transported Russian oil to Europe via Ukraine and has been at the center of recent threats from Slovakia and Hungary, which demanded Kyiv restore the flow before approving a much-needed aid package.

Ukraine has not commented on the explosions in Almetyevsk at the time of publication. Transneft had in September 2025 warned of reduced output after a series of Ukrainian drone attacks on critical export ports and refineries.