Ukraine attacked an oil refinery in Russia’s Volgograd area within the first main strike on Russia’s oil-processing trade this yr.
An in a single day drone strike sparked a fireplace on the facility, Ukraine’s Common Workers mentioned on Telegram Wednesday. “The scope of the harm is being clarified,” it mentioned, including that the refinery helps provide the Russian military.
Ukraine carried out a number of high-precision strikes on Russia’s power belongings final yr, resulting in refinery shutdowns, disruptions at oil terminals and the rerouting of some tankers. The assaults have been designed to curb the Kremlin’s power revenues and limit gasoline provides to Russian entrance strains within the battle, now nearing its fifth yr.
The Volgograd refinery, which was attacked a number of instances final yr, has a design capability of about 300,000 barrels of crude a day. It primarily provides oil merchandise to southern Russia, with some volumes exported.
The administration of the Volgograd area mentioned in a Telegram assertion that an an industrial plant caught hearth after a drone assault however didn’t identify the power. Lukoil, Russia’s largest personal oil producer, didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
Satellite tv for pc pictures from NASA’s Fireplace Data for Useful resource Administration System present a number of fires on the refinery that started in the course of the night time of Feb. 10-11. The fires weren’t seen the day past, in response to the information.
In January, Ukraine focused three small impartial Russian refineries, which collectively account for about 7% of Russia’s typical month-to-month crude throughput.
The lull in drone strikes had supplied momentary reduction for Russia’s downstream sector, permitting refinery runs to steadily enhance. Inspired by the restoration, the federal government lifted its ban on most gasoline exports, allowing producers to renew shipments in February — a month sooner than deliberate.
Whereas Ukrainian assaults on Russia’s oil trade slowed in January, Moscow continued intense assaults on power infrastructure in Kyiv and different cities. Mixed with excessive chilly, the strikes have made this winter significantly grueling for tens of millions of residents, inflicting widespread energy cuts and disrupting heating and water provides.
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