Ukrainian Strikes Disrupt Russian Refinery Operations

Ukrainian drone strikes since late October have disrupted operations at Russian oil refineries, with two industry sources estimating that the attacks have reduced refining capacity by about 30%. The reported damage has added pressure on domestic fuel supplies as Russia continues to ship diesel abroad under an agreement with the United States.

The industry sources said attacks disrupted operations at nine of Russia’s 35 major refineries over the past week. Facilities affected since late October have a combined rated capacity of about 300,000 metric tons of crude a day, compared with Russia’s total primary refining capacity of roughly 930,000 metric tons a day. The affected plants include refineries in Ryazan, Yaroslavl and the Volga region.

The sources estimated that actual crude processing could fall by as much as 200,000 metric tons daily from about 700,000 metric tons at the end of October. That would put processing at about 500,000 metric tons a day at the upper end of the estimate. The figures are estimates from industry sources, and actual throughput losses were not established in the reports.

Leningrad region Governor Alexander Drozdenko said an overnight drone strike set...