Ukraine strikes at the heart of Russian energy: attacks on refineries shut down 17% of refining capacity
26 August 15:59
Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian oil refineries and export infrastructure have disabled at least 17% of Moscow’s capacity, equivalent to 1.1 million barrels per day. Reuters reports this with reference to its own calculations, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
The agency notes that the consequences of the strikes are already tangible: fuel shortages have been recorded in a number of regions of Russia, and the Kremlin is forced to redistribute resources to avoid a collapse in the domestic market.
“Ukraine has stepped up drone attacks on Russian oil refineries and export infrastructure, hitting President Vladimir Putin’s most important sector of the economy,” Reuters reports.
Experts note that the strikes have not only an economic but also a political effect: Kyiv is demonstrating that it can raise the stakes in the war, especially amid international discussions after the summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Alaska.
What’s next
According to Reuters, if the pace of attacks continues, Russia could lose up to a quarter of its oil refining capacity by the end of 2025. This will be one of the most serious blows to the Kremlin’s economy since the start of the full-scale war.
Timeline of the most high-profile attacks on Russian refineries in 2024-2025
- january 2024 – a series of strikes on refineries in Tuapse and Kstovo, which for the first time forced Russia to temporarily restrict the export of petroleum products.
- march 2024 – a fire at the Novoshakhtinsky refinery in the Rostov region after a drone attack.
- april 2024 – the Ryazan refinery, one of the largest in Central Russia, is hit.
- june 2024 – attacks on refineries in the Nizhny Novgorod and Samara regions.
- february 2025 – explosions at the Kirishi oil refinery (Leningrad region), which serves the Baltic export route.
- march 2025 – oil product tanks in the Krasnodar Territory are destroyed.
- june 2025 – a large-scale attack on several facilities simultaneously, in particular in the Bryansk and Kursk regions.
- july 2025 – a plant in the city of Ukhta (Komi) caught fire, which was then attacked for the second time in August.
- thenight of August 15, 2025 – units of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine attacked the Syzran Oil Refinery in the Samara region and a control point in the temporarily occupied Donetsk region.
- august 2025 – a repeated fire at the Ukhta oil refinery, which became a symbol of the vulnerability of Russia’s energy infrastructure.
