UAV event in Yaroslavl' area, Russian Federation on Tue 19th May 2026

Explosions were heard in the Russian city of Yaroslavl on the morning of May 19; authorities reported a UAV attack and a drone hit an industrial facility. The highway to Moscow was blocked; a refinery located southwest of the city may have been under attack.

Source : Governor of the Yaroslavl Region of the Russian Federation Mikhail Yevraev, Russian Telegram - Astra channel , Rosaviatsia

Yevraev's direct speech : "Our region was subjected to a hostile attack by Ukrainian UAVs. In order to ensure security, traffic was blocked on the way out of Yaroslavl towards Moscow from the intersection of Moskovsky Avenue with the South-Western District."

Details : After that, Astra , citing local residents, reported that explosions were heard in Yaroslavl.

Evraev announced that a drone had hit an industrial facility and caused a fire.

"Most of the drones were shot down, but an industrial facility was hit. The fire is being extinguished by special services," the governor said.

He added that there were no injuries and that traffic towards Moscow had been restored.

On the night of May 18, Rosaviatsia announced the closure of a number of Russian airports.

As of this morning, restrictions on the reception and release of aircraft remain at the airports of Yaroslavl, Krasnodar, Nizhny Novgorod, Pskov, Ivanovo, and Cherepovets.

Yaroslavl is home to the Yaroslavl Oil Pumping Station and the Yaroslavsky Refinery (Slavneft-YANOS), which is one of the key facilities in the Russian oil refining industry. The refinery processes about 15 million tons of oil per year, ranking fourth in terms of oil refining volumes in the Russian Federation.

This refinery has been attacked many times by drones, the most recent strikes were on May 8 and 13 .