Ukrainian drones struck a major refinery deep inside Russia and again attacked an oil-pumping station nearby, further crippling Moscow’s crude-processing capability.
The attack caused a fire and damaged the key primary processing unit at Lukoil PJSC’s Permnefteorgsintez refinery, “essentially putting the unit out of action,” Ukraine’s SBU security service said in a statement on Telegram. The pumping station, previously attacked just a day earlier, was also damaged, it said.
Lukoil and oil-pipeline operator Transneft PJSC, which owns the station, didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
The facilities are located about 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) from Moscow in the Urals region, which has been a target of multiple Ukrainian long-range drone attacks in the recent days. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said earlier that Kyiv aims to extend the range of its strikes inside Russia beyond 1,500 kilometers.
Kyiv has been targeting Russia’s oil assets, including refineries, in an effort to reduce the Kremlin’s windfall profits from the global oil rally driven by the Iran war. As a result, Russia’s average daily oil processing rates have declined to the lowest levels since early 2022, industry data show.
Satellite images from NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management System reveal heat spots in the area of the Perm refinery and pumping station on Thursday, indicating possible fires.
The refinery has a design capacity of just over 13 million tons of crude a year, equivalent to around 260,000 barrels a day, making it one of Russia’s largest plants.
The Perm pumping station is part of Transneft’s trunk pipeline network bringing crude from western Siberia into central Russia and on to its western borders. It also pumps crude toward Lukoil’s refinery.
Separately, Ukraine’s General Staff said its forces attacked the 120,000-barrels a day Orsknefeorgsintez refinery, also in Russia’s Urals region. The strike resulted in a fire at the facility, the statement said. NASA’s FIRMS maps do not show any heating anomalies in the vicinity of the refinery in the past several days.
The refinery’s management did not immediately respond to a Bloomberg request for a comment sent outside normal business hours.
What do you think? We’d love to hear from you, join the conversation on the
The is a new social experience created for you and all energy professionals to Speak Up about our industry, share knowledge, connect with peers and industry insiders and engage in a professional community that will empower your career in energy.
