Latest News

Drones from Ukraine target Russian energy plants

On Wednesday, Russia accused Ukraine of trying to sabotage the 30-day moratorium against striking each other's infrastructure. This came a day after Russian president Vladimir Putin and U.S. president Donald Trump agreed on such a temporary stop.

Ukraine also accepted the proposal for a moratorium, but claimed that Russia knocked out electricity to some of their railways as well as hospitals and homes on Wednesday. Moscow claimed that a Ukrainian drone hit an oil depot located in southern Russia.

Russia has repeatedly cut off Ukraine's power grid during the three-year conflict, causing frequent blackouts. Ukraine has responded with drone attacks against Russian oil refineries, gas stations, and ports that are used to export oil and natural gas.

The following is a list with the key Russian energy sites that Ukraine has targeted this year, and their consequences.

IMPACT

According to estimates, the Ukrainian attacks in the first quarter of this year knocked down 3.3 million metric tonnes - or 4 % - of Russia’s total oil refinery capacity.

According to calculations based upon data from industry sources, the offline primary oil refinery capacity of Russia in March has been revised up by 49.7% compared to what was initially planned for this month. The new figure is 2.96 million tonnes.

KRASNODAR

According to regional authorities in Russia, a drone attack by Ukraine caused a fire near the village Kavkazskaya located in the Krasnodar Region. The facility is a vital link that allows Russian crude oil to enter the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) pipeline.

TUAPSE

The fire was put out on March 17 after a drone attack by Ukraine on the Tuapse Rosneft refinery in Krasnodar on March 14.

The Tuapse export-oriented plant processes 240,000 barrels of oil per day and supplies high-sulfur diesel, naphtha and fuel oil mainly to China.

KIRISHI

During a major drone attack by Ukraine on 8 March, falling debris damaged a tank at Russia's Kirishi Oil Refinery, which is one of the largest in the country. According to several sources, the refinery didn't suspend operations following the incident.

Kirishi refinery is responsible for producing 2.3 million tonnes of gasoline or 5.3% of the total amount of fuel in Russia. According to industry sources, it also produces 7.6% percent of the country's fuel oil, 16.3% percent of its diesel fuel and 3.4% percent of its aviation fuel.

RYAZAN

Rosneft, the owner and operator of Russia's Ryazan refinery, has suspended its operations following an attack on 24 January by Ukrainian drones. On February 11, the refinery resumed some oil processing and loading motor fuels into railway tanks. However, it suspended operations again on February 24, after another drone attack.

The refinery's storage tanks had been damaged and set on fire.

According to industry sources, the plant with a capacity installed of 350,000 bpd refines around 12.7 million tonnes of Russian crude per year (around 317,000bpd), which is 5.8% of Russia’s total refined crude.

According to data based on sources, in 2024 it will produce 2.2 millions tons of gasoline and 3.4 millions tons of diesel. It will also produce 4.3 million tonnes of fuel oil, 1 million tons jet fuel.

SARATOV

After drone attacks by Ukraine on February 11, a Rosneft owned oil refinery in southern Russian Saratov has suspended fuel production.

In 2024, the Saratov refinery will have processed 5,8 million tons (116,160 barges per day), which is equivalent to 2,2% of Russia’s total refining output.

SYZRAN

On March 4, an attack was launched against the Syzran oil refinery owned by Rosneft.

In 2024, the Syzran refinery will process 4.3 million tons of oil (86.000 barley per day).

ASTRAKHAN GAS PROCESSING PLANT

Gazprom's Astrakhan gas processing plant was attacked twice in February and March.

Around 8,340 tons of condensate gas can be processed per day at the plant. In 2023, the plant will produce 703,000 tons gasoline (1.6% of Russia's total), 492,000 tons diesel (0.6%), and 299,000 tonnes of fuel oil (0.7%).

VOLGOGRAD

The Volgograd refinery owned by Russia’s second largest oil producer, Lukoil was repeatedly targeted by Ukrainian drones in January, and then again on February 3,

The plant can produce around 300,000 barrels of oil per day. The Volgograd refinery will process 13.508 millions metric tons of crude oil in 2023, which is 4.9% of all Russian refineries.

SIBUR-KSTOVO

Sibur, a Russian petrochemicals company, announced on January 29, that the suspension of shipments from its Kstovo facility was due to a drone attack in Ukraine.

The company produces 770,000 tonnes of olefins per year and 130,000 tonnes of aromatic compounds.

(source: Reuters)