Drone campaign hits Russia’s refining capacity again - video
Sterlitamak authorities initially denied that the plant was attacked, saying instead that “an explosion occurred in one of the water-treatment workshops.” (Photo: Video screenshot/t.me/exilenova_plus)
A series of explosions rocked Kstovo (Nizhny Novgorod region, Russia) overnight, when local residents reported a fire at the Lukoil-Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez refinery, Telegram channel Astra reported on Nov. 4.
Kstovo refinery is located roughly 800 kilometers from the Ukrainian border and has repeatedly been targeted before by long-range drones.
Rosaviatsiya employees say the airport in Nizhny Novgorod was also taken out of service.
Project Exilenova+ later reported explosions at a petrochemical plant in Sterlitamak (Bashkortostan) as well.
Local authorities initially denied that the plant had been attacked, saying instead that “an explosion occurred in one of the water-treatment workshops.”
They also reported a partial collapse of a building; five people were inside the workshop at the time of the incident, Russian officials said.
However, later Bashkortostan head Radiy Khabirov acknowledged that drones hit the plant. He claimed both drones were shot down and said the enterprise is operating in normal mode.
Strikes on Russian refineries
On Oct. 7, Bloomberg reported that a series of Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian refineries has reduced domestic refining and forced the Kremlin to sharply increase exports of crude oil.
On Oct. 10, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said Ukrainian defense forces were succeeding in implementing the “DeepStrike” program and that crude refining in the aggressor country had fallen by 21%.
On Oct. 13, the foreign intelligence service published a report estimating that, without nearly six months of 'peaceful' repairs, Russia could become dependent on fuel imports for up to 60% of its needs by the end of 2025.
On Oct. 22, The Moscow Times reported that a fuel crisis driven by a successful series of Ukrainian strikes on refineries was worsening in Russia — for example, drivers in three oblasts (Irkutsk, Buryatia and Zabaykalsky Krai) had trouble buying gasoline freely.
On Oct. 24, Bloomberg reported that the successful series of Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian refineries prompted the Putin regime to launch a plan to mobilize reservists to protect those facilities.
On Oct. 31, The Independent wrote that the recent wave of successful attacks on refineries in Russia not only produced a fuel shortage there but also exposed growing vulnerabilities in the aggressor country’s infrastructure.
A Carnegie Endowment report noted that Ukrainian drones struck 16 major Russian refineries, representing about 38% of Russia’s nominal refining capacity.
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