The resumption of Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries since late October has reduced Russia's oil refining capacity by approximately 30%. This is reported by Reuters, citing its own sources.
Ukraine intensified strikes on Russian oil refineries since late October, when the ceasefire on attacks on energy infrastructure between Kyiv and Moscow announced by Trump failed to materialize.
Over the past week, Ukrainian attacks have disrupted operations and caused emergency situations at nine of Russia's 35 largest oil refineries. The actual reduction in crude oil refining volumes at Russian refineries may reach 200,000 tons per day.
According to source estimates, the total daily capacity of Russian refineries affected by drone attacks since late October is about 300,000 tons, or 2.2 million barrels per day.
This list includes three large enterprises in central Russia. For comparison: the country's total primary oil refining capacity is about 930,000 tons per day. In late October, Russian refineries were processing approximately 700,000 tons, or 5 million barrels, of crude oil per day, sources noted.
Among the affected enterprises are oil refineries in Ryazan, Yaroslavl, and the Volga region. On Monday, a Ukrainian drone attacked the Kirishi refinery, the second-largest in Russia. As a result of the nighttime strike, a fire broke out at the facility. The governor of Leningrad Oblast reported that one woman was killed during the attack.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov previously said that Ukraine is ignoring Trump's calls to stop strikes on Russian energy facilities.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said last week that Kyiv continues to attack Russian oil sector facilities in response to Russian strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure.
According to him, Russian forces constantly attack Ukrainian power plants, energy grids, heating and water supply systems. Zelensky noted that Moscow "has refused the de-escalation steps that our partners talked about."
Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries are exacerbating Moscow's difficulties in overcoming domestic fuel shortages. At the same time, Russia continues to supply diesel fuel to international markets under export arrangements with US President Donald Trump.
Ukrainian strikes on refineries – other news
UNIAN previously reported that on the night of November 7, Ukrainian drones attacked a number of facilities in Saratov and Oryol. Among the targets was the Saratov Oil Refinery, where a large-scale fire broke out after the strike. The capacity of the Saratov refinery reaches about 5.8 million tons of oil per year, which corresponds to 2.2% of Russia's total oil refining volume.
According to veteran of the Russo-Ukrainian war, former company commander of the "Aidar" battalion and director of the National Antarctic Scientific Center Yevhen Dykyi, Ukraine is disabling Russian oil refineries faster than Moscow can restore them. According to his estimates, the Defense Forces have already destroyed about 20% of the production capacity of Russian refineries.