Russian refinery blaze seen on video caused by second Ukrainian attack in a week

Verified images and heat-source data show a new fire at one of Russia's largest oil refineries south-east of Moscow It's the second time in less than a week that the plant at Ryazan has been set ...

BBC News Russian refinery blaze seen on video caused by second Ukrainian attack in a week 20 November 2025 Summary Verified images and heat-source data show a new fire at one of Russia's largest oil refineries south-east of Moscow It's the second time in less than a week that the plant at Ryazan has been set ablaze by a Ukrainian attack Verified images show a massive fire at an oil facility in Venezuela - workers were evacuated and there are no reported injuries We use open-source intelligence, satellite imagery, fact-checking and data analysis to help report complex stories We’ll be closing this live page shortly, but BBC Verify teams in London and Washington DC will be here through the rest of the day, ready to provide verification and fact-checking to news team across the BBC.

We began by verifying footage of a fire at an oil refinery in Russia after a Ukrainian attack and later spoke to an expert about how Moscow is evading sanctions to import the technology needed to repair their energy infrastructure.

We’ve also tracked new data on a fall in the number of new homes being built in England , debunked false claims by the AI chatbot Grok and analysed footage of an Israeli-backed militia on parade in southern Gaza.

Plus, you can click here to read an undercover investigation revealing that Russia is offering young Ukrainians thousands of dollars online to stage attacks against their own country.

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This video can not be played Share close panel Share page Copy link About sharing Q&A: Is Russia evading sanctions to repair oil facilities?

published at 16:50 GMT 20 November 2025 16:50 GMT 20 November 2025 Thomas Copeland BBC Verify Live journalist We’ve been looking into a second fire this week at an oil refinery in Russia, which was caused by the latest drone strike in Ukraine's ongoing campaign targeting energy infrastructure.

Fixing damage to these facilities is challenging for Russia.

This is because, according to Petras Katinas from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, international sanctions have restricted access to the technology needed to repair and upgrade Russia’s oil industry.

To assess whether those efforts have proven effective, I sent three questions to sanctions expert, Tom Keatinge, who is the founding director of the Centre for Finance and Security at the Royal United Service Institute think tank: “There's no doubt the controls on Russian access to technology is impacting its oil industry, but the impact of those restrictions has been frustratingly slow, hence the concerted effort by Ukraine to permanently disable Russia's oil infrastructure.

The combination of aerial attacks from Ukraine and limited access to critical spare parts will present Russia with challenges.” “The spoiler in all of this is the extent to which China can fill the gap left by Western sanctions.

Russia has established supply chains with China and built new payment channels, including via cryptocurrencies.“ "The ability of sanctions to strangle Russia's access to technology has been oversold by many political leaders.