Ukraine Blew Up An Il-78 Refueling Aircraft Near Ryazan

5.11.2026, 16:18
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This aircraft is important to the Russian aviation industry.

During a large-scale attack by Ukrainian drones on Ryazan at the Dyagilevo airfield, an Il-78 refueling aircraft was damaged. OSINT analysts reached this conclusion after examining available photos and videos. The Il-78 is the only specialized type of refueling aircraft in service with the Russian Aerospace Forces: without them, strategic and long-range aviation cannot refuel in flight or operate at great distances, writes "Dialog".

A whole group of major facilities came under attack overnight:

The Ryazan Oil Refinery. Units AVT-1, AVT-4, AT-6, and AVT-3 (which was undergoing repairs) were damaged, as well as three secondary processing units, one of which was the vacuum gasoil hydrotreating unit. A large-scale fire broke out at the facility.
The “Ryazansky” Industrial Park (Tyshevo village, Parkovaya Street, 1). Two facilities were damaged: the Wildberries warehouse and the OpenYard server equipment production facility located within the Open Development Center. Fires broke out at both locations.

In recent days, Ukraine has shifted from precision strikes to a strategy of massive air raids. It is telling that, after a long pause, three major oil refineries have already been hit in just five days in November. To overcome the strengthened air defense around strategic plants, Kyiv is deploying larger groups of drones, which is why the attacks appear to be massive. At the same time, the drones, arriving at the target in large numbers, continue to strike critical technological nodes (primary refining units) rather than simply targeting storage tanks.

The Il-78 (NATO code name: Midas) was developed by the Ilyushin Design Bureau based on the Il-76MD military transport aircraft. Its primary mission is to refuel military aircraft in flight, thereby increasing their range and patrol duration.

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