Ukrainian drone strike kills 12 in major attack on Russian fefining hub

A Ukrainian drone attack on a city in Russia’s Tatarstan region killed 12 people and wounded at least another 39 in a massive strike that also hit one of the most technologically advanced oil refineries in Russia.

Radmir Belyayev, the mayor of the city of Nizhnekamsk, which hosts an oil refining hub with two refineries and a petrochemical plant, announced the death toll on Monday, following one of the deadliest attacks on Russian energy infrastructure since the beginning of the war four and a half years ago.

Tatneft’s Taneco refinery, one of the most technologically advanced in Russia, was hit in the attack, according to multiple unverified reports and videos on social media.

This year, Ukraine has pursued a relentless drone campaign targeting Russian oil refining infrastructure and oil supply routes to force Putin into negotiating peace.

Late last month, Ukraine struck one of Russia’s biggest refineries, Lukoil’s Volgograd processing facility. Ukrainian forces hit the Volgograd refinery, which has the capacity to process 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude and produces gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel.

The renewed drone attacks on refineries from Ukraine came after several weeks of a lull, during which Ukrainian forces focused on hitting tankers in the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea.

The brief respite in the attacks on refineries allowed some units to resume operations after repairs. This past weekend, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said that the fuel crisis in Russia had started to ease as some refineries have restarted operations.

However, Russia at the end of July extended the ban on gasoline and diesel exports from July 31 to the end of the year in a sign that the situation has not improved too much.

Amid peak demand season, Russia has been suffering from gasoline and diesel shortages for nearly three months, as Ukraine’s drone campaign to strike Russian refineries forced many large processing sites offline in the spring and early summer.

Nana Prekoh Eric

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