Politics 6 min read By Callum Montgomery
Ukraine Claims Strikes Have Knocked Out 51% of Russia's Oil Refining Capacity
Ukrainian long-range strikes have put more than half of Russia's oil refining capacity out of action, according to the Defence Ministry in Kyiv, as President Vladimir Putin acknowledges the economic cost of the campaign.
Ukrainian long-range strikes have neutralised 51 per cent of Russia's oil refining capacity, according to the country's Defence Ministry, in a campaign that President Vladimir Putin has acknowledged is damaging the Russian economy.
The ministry said late on Sunday that recent attacks on refineries in cities including Moscow, Yaroslavl, Ust-Luga, Perm, Saratov and Syzran had put more than half of Russia's refining capacity out of action. The claim could not be independently verified.
Defence Minister Yevhenii Khmara said the assessment had been carried out by analysts from Ukraine's intelligence services, the General Staff and the Defence Ministry. «Fifty-one percent of struck refining capacity is a significant blow to the enemy's economy, to its ability to carry out aggression and supply its troop groupings,» he said. «Our deep strikes continue to bring the war to Russian territory.»
Putin offered a rare public admission of the damage on 1 October, telling the Valdai Club forum of international foreign policy experts that the strikes had cost Russia roughly 1 per cent of its gross domestic product. «They started attacking oil refineries and openly declared the goal of damaging our economy. Did they achieve their goal? Partially,» he said.
Russian officials have not publicly disclosed data on damage to the country's oil infrastructure. Ukraine has repeatedly attacked refineries from Moscow to Siberia, triggering a widespread fuel crisis earlier this year that forced authorities to restrict petrol sales.
Russia has historically been the world's third-largest producer of refined fuel products from crude, after the United States and China. According to the International Energy Agency, some of Russia's 32 refineries have been hit as many as 15 times since the start of the war, and one refinery has been struck every three days in recent months, creating a cycle of damage and emergency repairs that could degrade units over the long term.
Ukrainian strikes have increasingly targeted the more complex equipment used to remove impurities from fuel, which takes months to repair. The IEA says diesel output has fallen by about 30 per cent, and drivers have had to wait up to 40 hours to fill up at petrol stations.
Russian refiners have tried to compensate by delaying scheduled maintenance and bringing mothballed units back online. Another response has been to lower fuel quality standards to maintain petrol supplies, which risks damage to engines and pollution control equipment. The Kremlin has also banned diesel exports, pushing global prices higher and prompting US President Donald Trump on 13 September to urge Ukraine to stop hitting refineries.
The economic campaign has unfolded alongside intensified aerial assaults on both sides, with progress along the 1,200-kilometre front line largely at a standstill. A Russian attack with a guided aerial bomb killed at least one person and wounded 10 others in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Monday, according to Mayor Ihor Terekhov. «There may be people under the rubble of the residential building that was hit. A search and rescue operation is underway,» he said. An earlier Russian drone attack on the city's Industrialnyi district killed one person, Terekhov said, with vehicles and an administrative building set alight and apartment buildings damaged.
Russia's Defence Ministry said it had struck an electrical substation in the Kharkiv region, as well as energy and port infrastructure and maritime vessels used by Ukraine's military. Ukraine's air force said Russia launched 205 drones overnight into Monday, of which 172 were shot down or suppressed. The Russian ministry said its forces downed 199 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions, Crimea and the Black Sea.
Ukraine has struggled in recent weeks to fend off intensified Russian attacks on its cities, which include ballistic missiles and high-flying jet-powered drones. Presidential adviser Serhii Beskrestnov said 12 automated turrets had been installed in Kyiv to counter jet-powered Shahed drones, with more planned, describing them as artificial intelligence-controlled machine guns. The air force later said the robotic turrets had successfully shot down Russian jet-powered drones, including the Geran-5, for the first time. «It's machine vision that is used for the shootdowns. Artificial intelligence makes it possible to engage even jet-powered drones,» air force spokesman Yurii Ihnat said.
Operations at a border crossing between Moldova and Ukraine were suspended on Monday after a shell fell close to the checkpoint during a Russian attack on Ukrainian infrastructure, Moldova's Border Police said. The shell fell near the Palanca-Mayaky-Udobne checkpoint, bounced off the ground and hit a passenger bus parked near the barrier. The bus and a security booth were damaged, and one border service employee suffered minor injuries. No other casualties were reported, and border police advised people to avoid travelling to the area.
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