Ukraine Targets Second-Largest Russian Refinery in Long-Range Drone Strike

A Russian oil refinery in Kirishi stopped operating a key unit after a Ukrainian drone attack, leading to a temporary reduction in production capacity at one of the country's largest plants.

The Gaze reports on it, referring to Reuters.

Ukraine has intensified its strikes on Russia's energy infrastructure in an attempt to damage Moscow's military efforts amid fruitless negotiations to end the conflict.

The unit, which was damaged by Ukrainian drones last weekend, provides about 40% of the plant's total capacity, which is approximately 20 million metric tons per year. That's about 400,000 barrels per day.

This damaged furnace and other equipment may take about a month to repair.

The plant plans to increase processing at existing sites by 20% to compensate for the downtime of the damaged unit. This will allow production to be maintained at about 75% of nominal capacity.

Notably, in 2024, the plant processed 17.5 million tons of oil, accounting for 6.6% of Russia's total oil processing, producing 2 million tons of gasoline, 7.1 million tons of diesel fuel, 6.1 million tons of fuel oil, and 600,000 tons of bitumen.

As The Gaze informed earlier, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s long-range drone and special forces operations against Russia’s oil industry are delivering the most immediate form of sanctions, crippling Moscow’s capacity to fund its war.