Russia's Kuibyshev oil refinery has completely halted production due to problems caused by a Ukrainian drone attack.
Shut down of the Kuibyshev oil Refinery in Samara
As the newspaper reports regarding sources, the Rosneft refinery has stopped one of the primary processing units, CDU-5, thus leaving half of its capacity. Although CDU-4 was not affected by the attack, it is technically linked to the damaged CDU-5 and could not operate without it.
It is noted that this will further aggravate the difficulties of the Russian oil refining sector. The need for emergency repairs after multiple drone attacks made supplies difficult.
According to the agency's calculations, about 14% of Russia's oil refining capacity was stopped by drone attacksThisis mon, Russiath was forced to increase its imports of gasoline from neighboring Belarus to deal with possible fuel shortages.
In addition, exporting gasoline was forbidden for six months from March 1. The Russians are thus trying to prevent the increase in domestic fuel prices.
At the same time, the publication notes that the difficulties of Russian refineries have eased somewhat, as work has resumed at one of the units of the Ryazan Oil Refinery, which is much larger than the Kuibyshev Refinery.
What is known about Ukraine's attacks on Russian refineries
What is essential to understand is that at least 14 attacks on enemy refineries have been carried out over the past three weeks:
March 17 — oil plant in Sloviansk-on-Kuban,
March 16 — Syzransky and Novokuybyshevsk refineries in the Samara region,
March 15 — Belgorod Refinery,
March 14 — Refinery in Ryazan,
March 13 — Refinery in Leningrad Oblast and Oil Products Plant in Novoshakhtinsk, Rostov Oblast,
March 12 — Lukoil oil depot in Kstov, Nizhny Novgorod.
The other day, the Financial Times wrote that the US allegedly urged Ukraine to carry out these attacks because they could raise global oil prices and provoke retaliation.
Deputy PM Olga Stefanishyna commented on this information at the Kyiv Security Forum. She noted that the corresponding goals on the Russian Federation's territory are absolutely legal from a military point of view. In addition, attacks on infrastructure of this type meet NATO standards.
The commander of US forces in Europe in 2014-2017, Ben Hodges, emphasises that Ukraine should ignore advice to stop attacks on Russian energy infrastructure.
