Ukraine claimed new strikes on two Russian refineries as military authorities in Kyiv press ahead with attacks on Moscow’s oil-processing industry to curtail its energy revenues.
Ukraine’s General Staff said it struck Rosneft PJSC’s Saratov refinery in Russia’s Volga region for a second time this month, triggering explosions and “a massive fire,” with the extent of damage still being assessed. Later on Tuesday, it claimed a separate attack on the Orsk refinery in the Orenburg region near Kazakhstan that damaged a key processing unit.
Bloomberg News was not able to independently verify the strikes or the extent of the damage. Rosneft and ForteInvest JSC, which owns the Orsk refinery, didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Saratov regional governor Roman Busargin said unnamed industrial facilities, located in the Zavodskoy area of Saratov, were damaged in the overnight drone attack, providing no further details. The Saratov refinery is located in the same area. Orenburg regional governor Evgeny Solntsev also cited damage to an industrial facility, without providing details.
Ukraine has intensified strikes on Russian oil infrastructure – from refineries to crude pipelines and sea terminals – in recent months in an effort to reduce the energy revenue that helps Moscow finance its invasion.
Since the beginning of August, Ukrainian drones targeted Russian oil-processing facilities nearly 40 times, compared with 21 strikes between January and July, according to public statements and data gathered by Bloomberg. That’s also more than the total number of Ukrainian drone strikes on the Russian downstream segment last year.
As a result of refinery outages, fuel prices at the Russian commodity exchange set historic highs and gasoline shortages emerged in several regions across the nation. In response, the Russian government imposed a ban on gasoline exports until year-end and introduces some restrictions on exports of diesel.
Some of Russia’s refineries were able to quickly repair the damage in the recent weeks, yet the nation’s oil-processing volumes still remain below the seasonal norm.
The Saratov refinery has the capacity to process about 140,000 barrels of crude a day and is a key supplier of gasoline and diesel to regions in the western, most populated parts of Russia. It has been a target of multiple Ukrainian drone attacks this year, most recently on Nov. 3. The Orsk facility, last attacked early October, has a design capacity to process about 130,000 barrels a day and produces several types of gasoline, jet fuel and diesel.
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