Ukrainian Drone Strike Halts Russian Oil Refinery

An oil refinery in the south-eastern Russian city of Saratov halted operations on Wednesday after being damaged in a Ukrainian drone attack, two oil industry sources told Reuters.

It was the third attack on the Rosneft refinery this year. Operations at the facility were also suspended for several weeks in March and May. According to the sources, the drones hit the main CDU-6 distillation unit, which can process 20,000 tonnes of crude oil per day and is the only unit of its kind at the refinery. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the facility had been hit by Ukraine’s “long-range sanctions”.

Roman Busargin, governor of the Saratov region, said on Telegram that the attack had killed one person, injured several others and damaged “civilian industrial facilities”, though he did not specify which ones.

In 2024, the Saratov refinery processed 5.8 million tonnes of crude oil, representing 2.2% of Russia’s total refining capacity. It also produced 1.2 million tonnes of gasoline, 1.9 million tonnes of diesel and 1 million tonnes of heating oil.

On Thursday, Ukraine said it had also attacked a refinery in Tatarstan, about 1,000 km from the front line, as well as an airport in the Voronezh region. Russian energy company Gazprom also reported damage to the Krasnodarskaya pumping station in the Krasnodar region following a drone attack.

Ukraine has intensified strikes on Russian energy infrastructure in recent months in an effort to weaken the Russian military’s combat capability. The attacks have contributed to fuel shortages in Russia, leading to long lines at gas stations, rising prices and export restrictions. On Monday, after a Ukrainian attack, Russia’s largest refinery in Omsk, in south-western Siberia about 2,700 km from Ukrainian-controlled territory, was also forced to suspend operations.

(Reuters, TASR)