Russian refineries targeted by nighttime drone swarm attack

Four refineries in southern Russia were attacked overnight in one of the largest swarm attacks by drones since the start of the war in Ukraine, one of which was damaged.

Over Crimea and the Black Sea, 70 drones were intercepted and destroyed, and 43 over Krasnodar region, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Telegram, but did not say how many drones were involved in the attack. The Afipsky, Ilsky, Krasnodar and Astrakhan refineries were attacked, the Ukrainian General Staff later said in a Facebook post.

In the Seversky district of the Krasnodar region, where the Afipsky and Ilsky refineries are located, “administrative buildings on the territory of an oil refinery were damaged” as a result of the attack, the region’s governor Veniamin Kondratyev said on Telegram. Interfax had previously reported that a fire covering an area of ​​50 square meters had been extinguished by morning and two people were injured.

The Ilsky, Afipsky, Krasnodar and Astrakhan refineries did not immediately respond to Bloomberg News requests for comment on the impact of the attacks.

Oil refining is one of Russia’s most important industries and has been the target of Ukrainian drone strikes since late January. More than two years after its neighbor’s invasion, Kyiv is trying to limit Moscow’s ability to finance the aggression and disrupt fuel supplies to front-line troops.

In recent weeks, Ukrainian drone strikes damaged at least two other refineries in southern Russia, including Rosneft’s major facility in Tuapse on the Black Sea on May 17. Before that attack, Russia’s crude oil processing rate had been rising, averaging 5.45 million barrels a day in the first 15 days of May, according to the latest available data.

Following the drone attacks, the refineries are currently being repaired quickly, said Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak on May 22. Russia has improved its mechanisms and technologies for protecting energy facilities, he said.

Even during the usual seasonal maintenance work at the refineries, the situation on the Russian domestic fuel market is “absolutely stable.” The plants are producing more diesel and gasoline than a year ago, Novak said earlier this month.

After an initial wave of attacks on refineries earlier this year, the Russian government restricted gasoline exports for six months starting March 1. The ban was temporarily lifted from May 20 until the end of June as domestic fuel supplies became more plentiful. The government is now considering resuming overseas deliveries in July, according to people familiar with the matter.

Both Ilsky and Afipsky have previously been targeted by Ukrainian drone strikes. The Ilsky refinery processed more than 114,000 barrels of crude oil per day in the first 15 days of May, about 2.1 percent of the country’s total refining output, according to a person familiar with the matter. The Afipsky plant processed more than 146,000 barrels of crude oil per day in the same period, about 2.7 percent of Russia’s total crude processing volume, the person said.

The Defense Ministry also said Russian fighter jets destroyed six naval drones in the northwestern part of the Black Sea overnight.

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