Ukrainian drones struck two oil depots and a refinery across Russia in a 24-hour period, including one deep in Russian territory, officials on both sides said on Thursday, as Kyiv presses a campaign aimed at hampering the country’s military operations and putting strain on its most important industry.

Radiy Khabirov, the head of Russia’s Bashkiria region, near Kazakhstan, said a drone hit the Neftekhim Salavat oil refinery, one of the country’s largest, around midday on Thursday, sending plumes of smoke into the sky. The facility is more than 1,126km from the Ukrainian border, in a sign that Ukraine is increasingly capable of striking further into Russia.

An official from Ukraine’s special services, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military matters, said Ukraine was behind the assault. The official said Ukraine was also responsible for two other drone strikes overnight that hit oil depots in Russia’s Krasnodar region, southeast of Ukraine.

The strikes follow some 20 similar attacks since the beginning of the year. Military analysts say they are an attempt by Ukraine to disrupt the Russian military’s logistical routes and combat operations by targeting the facilities that supply fuel for its tanks, ships and planes.

Ukrainian officials also hope the strikes can undermine the Russian energy complex, which is at the core of the country’s economy and war effort — accounting for about one-third of Russia’s federal budget revenue — although it is too early to say whether they can have any serious impact.

The US government has publicly urged Ukraine to stop its attacks on Russian oil refineries out of concern that they could affect global oil markets.

But Ukraine has instead doubled down on its strategy. Last month, Ukraine struck Russia’s third-largest refinery, located about 1,287km from its border with Russia. The refinery hit on Thursday is also one of Russia’s biggest, with a capacity to process 10 million metric tons of oil a year, according to Gazprom, its owner.

Khabirov, the head of the Bashkiria region, said the attack did not disrupt the refinery’s operations.

He described the strike as “an attempt to discredit our holiday”, in reference to Russia’s commemoration on Wednesday of the Soviet
Union’s victory in World War II.

Ukraine’s rationale for these attacks appears to be that by disrupting Russian military logistics, it could buy time for Ukrainian troops on the battlefield, who are outnumbered, undergunned and steadily losing ground to Russian forces.

New York Times News Service