Ukraine Drones Hit Another Key Russian Oil Refinery
(Bloomberg) -- Ukrainian drones attacked Lukoil PJSC’s major refinery in Volgograd in the early hours of Thursday as Kyiv has ramped up strikes on Russian energy infrastructure this month.
The Russian Air Force repelled a “massive UAV attack” on the Volgograd region overnight and as a result of falling debris, oil-products spills caught fire at the facility, Andrei Bocharov, regional governor, said in a Telegram statement.
The blaze was extinguished by 8:13 p.m. local time, the press office of the regional administration said in a separate Telegram statement.
The Volgograd refinery, among the 10 largest in Russia, is the latest strategic asset to be hit by Ukraine this month, with Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump preparing to meet in Alaska on Friday to discuss a potential ceasefire.
Others targets include three facilities owned by oil giant Rosneft PJSC, a key helium facility owned by gas giant Gazprom PJSC and an oil-pumping station in Unecha, a hub for Russia’s network of crude-exporting pipelines.
Ukraine’s General Staff confirmed the attack on the Volgograd facility in a Telegram statement. Lukoil didn’t respond to a Bloomberg request for a comment on a potential damage and impact on crude-processing rates.
The Volgograd refinery, which was attacked several times early this year, has a design capacity to process around 300,000 barrels a day of crude and supplies oil-products mainly to southern regions in Russia, with some batches also going on exports.
The attack on the facility, which accounts for roughly 5% of Russia’s crude processing, may put even further pressure on nation’s refinery runs amid higher seasonal demand for gasoline and diesel.
(Updates with a statement in the third paragraph)
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