05/25/2026
On the night of May 25, Russians complained about Ukrainian attacks on Yaroslavl and Belgorod. Explosions were heard in both cities.
In Belgorod, local authorities announced “hitting critical infrastructure facilities,” causing power outages, and in Yaroslavl, exits from the city toward Moscow were blocked. Footage from the locations, filmed by the Russians, was collected on the Telegram channel Exilenova+.
Explosions in Yaroslavl
The report about the explosions in Yaroslavl appeared on the Exilenova+ channel at 3:38 a.m. on May 25.
“Yaroslavl, locals report attack and explosions,” it said.
Exilenova+ also published several videos from the city, filmed by local residents. They show the sounds of drone engines, Russian air defense attempts to shoot them down with small arms fire, and explosions.
Local authorities have not officially confirmed the consequences of the attack. Yaroslavl Oblast Governor Mikhail Yevraev said the raid was “repulsed” and that a local resident suffered a “minor shrapnel wound.”
He also announced the closure of traffic through the intersection of Moskovsky Prospect and the Southwestern Ring Road on the exit from Yaroslavl towards Moscow. By morning, traffic had been restored.
The head of the Center for the Study of Occupation, Petro Andryuschenko, sees this overlap as a marker that the drones were trying to attack the Yaroslavl oil refinery again.
“The refinery is under attack. Official Yaroslavl blocked the exit from the city towards Moscow (the refinery industrial zone area) due to the work of firing groups on UAVs,” Andryuschenko wrote.
The Telegram channel “Operational Armed Forces of Ukraine” holds the same opinion .
However, there was no footage showing a successful strike on the refinery at the time of publication of the news online.
Explosions in Belgorod
At 05:30, Exilenova+ also reported an attack on Belgorod.
“Belgorod, also reporting an attack and arrival,” the message said
According to local authorities, the city came under “massive rocket fire.” According to the Belgorod Region Operations Headquarters, it resulted in “broken windows” and “slashed facades” in two office buildings, “including at the enterprise,” as well as “damaged glazing in two apartment buildings.” A security guard in one of the buildings was injured.
However, Belgorod Mayor Valentin Demidov also announced “hits on energy infrastructure facilities,” which resulted in power outages and water shortages in some areas of the regional center .
As OBOZ.UA reported, earlier satellite photos showed new consequences of Ukraine’s strike on the Ryazan refinery. Numerous damages are visible there.
It also became known that drones attacked the Transneft oil refinery in the Vladimir region of the Russian Federation.
In addition, the General Staff reported that the Defense Forces struck one of the key Russian oil export facilities in the Black Sea region, as well as a number of other facilities, including a patrol ship and a missile boat in Novorossiysk.
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