Ukraine continues to pile pressure on Russian oil exports by attacking its energy sector, claiming to have recorded its 12th successful attack on crude facilities after downed drones ignited a fire at the Slavyansk Eko oil refinery east of the disputed Crimea peninsula.
The attack comes after nine aerial assaults were launched on oil installations by Ukraine in Russian territory in one week.
It was carried out by seven unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), all run by the Ukraine State Security Service.
Although Russia managed to intercept the drones through its defensive capability, several UAVs fell inside the privately owned refinery that has an output capacity of about four million metric tonnes of oil per year.
The attack in the Krasnodar region east of the Azov Sea follows recent aerial assaults on oil facilities in Ryazan, Pervyy Zavod, Rostov, Nizhny Novgorod, Oryol and Belgorod, all cities and areas lying to the immediate east and north-east between Ukraine’s Russian border and Moscow.
There was another attack on an oil facility in Kirishi, more than 1 200 kilometres north of Ukraine near St Petersburg.
Igor Yushkov, an analyst at Russia's National Energy Security Fund, has said targeting oil refineries poses greater challenges compared with fuel depots.
He explained that, while fires at depots led to temporary issues like burned fuel, strikes on refineries were more severe due to the intricate nature of these facilities, requiring complex repairs which were further complicated by sanctions.
Think tank contributor Sergey Vakulenko, writing for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, remarked in January that a growing trend in the media had been the headlines Russian oil refineries were making – for all the wrong reasons.
“These incidents garnered so much media attention because they pose major questions about how well Russia’s energy industry is coping with the pressures of wartime,” Vakulenko said.
Almost three months on, with the first quarter of 2024 nearing its end, Russian crude prices on the Petersburg International Mercantile Exchange continue to spike.
Last week’s nine attacks put a 12% dent in Russian output when refineries in suspended operations had to deal with UAV assaults from Ukraine.
Global oil production data showed that the attacks had affected about 1% of world production.
