Targeted oil depot in Russia's Nizhny Novgorod Oblast faces shutdown after attack - military expert

He provided insight into the attack and its consequences.

"If we lived in Russia, we would be expected to believe that three drones were shot down and that the debris of those three drones just happened to land on the facility, causing this massive fire," he remarked sarcastically.

"But since we live in Ukraine, we can assume that they may have shot down three drones, but several more reached their target, hitting this refinery, which is Russia’s fourth largest in terms of processing capacity."

Popovych also pointed out that this is the second time in 10 months that this refinery has been hit.

"In March 2024, the first attack targeted a primary oil processing unit - a critical installation that forced the plant to shut down. Although they managed to restore it and resume operations at reduced capacity, now we see another fire raging," he said.

Refinery expected to be shut down?

"The fire will likely continue until everything burns down - this facility will most likely left inoperative," Popovych concluded.

He referenced the double strikes on the Ryazan oil refinery, which led to its complete shutdown.

"The Ryazan refinery accounted for 3% of Russia’s oil processing, while this one handles 4%," he commented.

" We can see that Ukraine is implementing its own sanctions on Russia’s oil industry, and these are proving to be more effective and much faster than the restrictions imposed by the U.S."