Ukraine Carries Out Record Drone Strikes on Russian Oil Infrastructure in November
In November, Ukraine carried out a record series of attacks on Russia's strategic oil infrastructure.
The Gaze reports on it, referring to Bloomberg.
Last month, the Ukrainian military used drones at least 14 times in November to strike Russian oil refineries, tankers, and oil terminals.
The attacks included four strikes on oil loading complexes in the Black Sea and explosions on tankers carrying Russian oil, underscoring the scale of Ukrainian operations.
In addition, unmanned boats damaged a berth at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) terminal, a key point for the supply of Kazakh oil. As a result, the terminal is only partially operational, and Kazakhstan has been forced to reroute its exports to maintain production.
The November strikes significantly hampered the operation of Russian oil refineries, reducing their processing to approximately 5 million barrels per day, whereas typically in late autumn, refineries processed 5.3–5.5 million barrels per day.
“With repeated strikes on the same facilities, there is growing uncertainty over whether plants can safely resume operations even after repair works are completed, further clouding the outlook for crude throughput” in Russia, said Kpler, a leading subscription-based data and analytics platform.
Targeting critical oil infrastructure is essential to limiting Russia’s ability to finance its war, and Ukraine’s strikes demonstrate high operational effectiveness.
Earlier, Ukraine’s missile and drone attack on the Novorossiysk port temporarily halted around 2% of global oil supply, severely damaging berths and tankers, and marking one of Kyiv’s most impactful energy strikes in months.
Moreover, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy announced that Russia is set to lose at least $37 billion in oil and gas revenues in 2025, marking a significant decline in the country’s energy income. He emphasized that both international sanctions and Ukraine’s long-range strikes are effectively limiting Russia’s ability to finance its war effort.
As The Gaze reported earlier, on November 29, Ukrainian naval drones have severely damaged two sanctioned oil tankers belonging to Russia’s so-called shadow fleet in the Black Sea.
Read more on The Gaze: Why Ukraine Should be allowed to district of Russian Oil Refineries – Benefits for the US and EU