Ukraine stepped up deep attacks, determined to cut off Russia's economic lifeline 0
(Dan Tri) – The number of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) attacks on Russia’s oil centers and refineries has increased in recent weeks, threatening the country’s energy exports.
Firefighters control a fire at a gas facility in Ust-Luga near St.
On the morning of January 25, authorities discovered a fire at a large oil refinery owned by Rosneft in the southern Russian town of Tuapse.
According to Moscow Times, this is the fourth attack suspected of being carried out by UAVs against Russian oil and gas infrastructure in the past week.
The oil and energy export industry is an important lifeline of the Russian economy, accounting for about 30% of state budget revenue.
`The problem at Russian oil refineries has become systemic,` Anton Gerashchenko, advisor to Ukraine’s Minister of Internal Affairs, wrote on social network X shortly after the fire in Tuapse.
Continuous attacks
This month, Russia’s energy infrastructure appears to be getting more attention from UAVs.
On January 18, Ukrainian UAVs raided an oil port in St.
Screenshot from a video released by the Russian Ministry of Emergencies on January 19 shows a fire at an oil storage facility in Bryansk (Photo: Russian Ministry of Emergencies).
Three days later, Ukraine continued to launch UAVs to attack a major gas export port – the Novatek PJSC gas condensation plant in Ust-Luga port, near the city of St.
According to Kyiv Post, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has claimed responsibility for the attack on Ust-Luga – Russia’s largest Baltic sea port.
Citing industry data, Bloomberg said that if Ukraine successfully raids two large Russian oil depots in the Baltic Sea, Ust-Luga and Primorsk, Ukraine could cause Russia to stop exporting 1.5 million barrels of oil per day, causing
The daily amount of oil transported through these two oil terminals accounts for more than 40% of Moscow’s total crude oil exports by sea on average from January to November 2023, according to Bloomberg.
Mr. Gerashchenko pointed out that as of January 25, there had been at least six attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure.
On January 19, a small UAV caused a large-scale fire at an oil depot in Klintsy, Bryansk province.
A Ukrainian soldier of the 68th Brigade in a trench more than 450 meters from the Russian position in Luhansk province, eastern Ukraine on January 9 (Photo: New York Times).
Strategic objectives
According to Forbes, recent attacks on Russia’s fuel infrastructure are based on the principle of secondary explosions using small, cheap drones.
Although small UAVs cannot carry as much explosives as fighters, with good targeting capabilities, they can attack ammunition or fuel stockpiles.
A pro-Russian Telegram channel said that shortly before the explosion in Ust-Luga, air defense forces shot down a UAV carrying 3kg of explosives.
On X, open source intelligence channel Tendar pointed out that Russia only has 5 large strategic pipelines leading to seaports, including 3 in the Baltic and 2 in the Black Sea.
Forbes assessed that a large number of Russian oil and gas facilities are within range of Ukraine’s attack and protecting them all is impossible.
`This will be a headache for Russia’s military operations. Current attacks are still small in scale, using a small number of drones but have caused significant damage,` Tendar wrote.
