Ukraine has intensified drone attacks on Russian refineries and export infrastructure, striking at the most important sector of Russia's economy. The attacks have disrupted oil processing and export, caused gasoline shortages in some regions of Russia, and have been a response to Moscow's advances on the front line and strikes on Ukraine's gas and energy facilities. According to Reuters calculations, attacks on ten plants have put out of action at least 17% of Russian refining capacities, or 1.1 million barrels per day.
According to analysts, this move by Kyiv is an attempt to raise the stakes in possible peace negotiations and refute the idea that Ukraine has already lost the war after the meeting between US President Donald Trump and Putin in Alaska.
Russia receives a quarter of its budget revenue from oil and gas exports, which allows it to finance a 25% increase in defense spending this year to the highest level since the Cold War. Meanwhile, Western sanctions have forced Moscow to sell oil at discounts and stop selling gas to most European countries.
In the past month, Ukraine attacked the Volgograd plant of "Lukoil", the Ryazan plant of "Rosneft", and numerous other plants in the Rostov, Samara, Saratov regions, and Krasnodar Krai. After a Ukrainian drone strike, a fire at the Russian Novoshakhtinsk refinery could not be extinguished for two days. Ukrainian drones also attacked the "Druzhba" pipeline and the "Novatek" export terminal.
As the agency writes, the war in Ukraine has turned into a war of attrition: both Russia and Ukraine are using drones and missiles to strike far behind the front line to damage each other's economy.