Ukraine Says It Hit Two Russian Refineries, Slew of Fuel Tankers
(Bloomberg) -- Ukraine said it hit two Russian refineries and over a dozen fuel tankers, the latest in a series of attacks on energy assets that are deepening a nationwide fuel crunch.
Kyiv forces struck the independent Ilsky oil refinery in Russia’s Krasnodar region and Novatek PJSC’s Ust-Luga gas-processing complex on the Baltic coast, Ukraine’s General Staff said in a Telegram statement. Thirteen tankers, three dry cargo vessels, a ferry and an auxiliary ship — all used to ensure military logistics as well as transport fuel and military cargo - were also hit, it added.
Bloomberg couldn’t independently verify the number of hit vessels.
Earlier, local authorities of the Krasnodar region on the Black Sea coast said that falling drone debris caused a fire at the Ilsky refinery, which has been extinguished. The governor of the neighboring Rostov region said that about 35 drones were downed overnight over Taganrog, causing a fire in the seaport, the town of Azov and nearby districts.
Ukraine has significantly ramped up its attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure in recent months, targeting refineries, fuel depots and oil-product tankers in a move to curb supplies and pressure the Kremlin into negotiations, with the war well into the fifth year. Intensified strikes have already pushed Russia’s refinery runs below 4 million barrels a day, the lowest in over 20 years, and forced authorities to ban exports of most gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.
The Ust-Luga facility, which was last targeted on Monday, processes stable gas condensate into a range of petroleum products including naphtha and jet fuel. It’s annual design processing capacity is about 7 million tons.
Novatek didn’t immediately respond to Bloomberg request for a comment.
The independent Ilsky refinery, which has a design capacity of about 6.6 million tons a year, was last targeted at the start of June.
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