A small refinery in southern Russia was taken offline following an overnight drone strike, showing near-daily attacks continue despite meetings in New York this week aimed at easing tensions.
Around 50 drones were intercepted over Russia’s Rostov region, and the Novoshakhtinsk refinery was damaged in the assault, local governor Yury Slyusar said Friday in a statement on Telegram. The 110,000-barrel-a-day plant was last attacked a month ago.
Separately, the governor of Russia’s Perm region said drones targeted an industrial facility he didn’t identify. Satellite imagery from NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management System shows heat anomalies — potentially indicating fires — in an industrial area, including at the site of a major refinery owned by Lukoil PJSC.
The 260,000-barrel-a-day Perm facility was last attacked by drones in early September. Lukoil didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on whether the plant has again been targeted, and the Ukrainian military hasn’t yet commented on any refinery strike.
US Intervention
Earlier this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held separate meetings with the US administration on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. The US has pushed both sides to agree to an energy-assets truce as global diesel prices surge, but a deal remains elusive.
Ukraine has kept up a wave of attacks on Russian refineries in an effort to reduce the Kremlin’s ability to produce and sell oil products. Russian forces have been striking civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, including Black Sea ports and energy facilities, to create widespread disruption ahead of winter.
The loss of fuel supplies has forced Russia to impose a temporary ban on most exports of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. The Trump administration is also looking into a possible US diesel-export ban to bring domestic prices down.
This report is auto generated from the Bloomberg news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
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