Ukrainian drone strikes hit the 320,000 bpd Yaroslavl oil refinery and a military airfield in Rostov on September 17. The plant accounts for approximately 5% of Russia's total refining capacity. Regional Governor Mikhail Yevrayev reported that fires broke out in the industrial area before being extinguished, while NASA FIRMS detected heat signatures over the facility. President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed a joint operation by the Security Service of Ukraine and other intelligence agencies also struck the Rostov airfield, destroying one An-12 transport plane, two An-26s, and three helicopters.

The attack on Yaroslavl marks a return to the May-July pace of four to five refinery strikes per week after a one-week pause. Russia responded with air strikes on Kyiv and Odesa that injured 18 people and damaged residential buildings and a kindergarten. A Russian drone strike on a Tanzania-flagged ship bound for a Ukrainian port killed one person and injured three crew members, while Poland deployed military aircraft and issued emergency alerts in the Podkarpackie and Lubelskie regions.