Ukrainian drones target Russia’s energy infrastructure

Russia’s energy infrastructure has been hit by Ukraine drone attacks and fires in the past month, this may affect the country which is heavily reliant on the energy sector, Reuters reported on Sunday.

A Russian refinery at Volgograd was struck by two Ukrainian drones on Saturday morning, with a fire damaging the Lukoil-owned refinery in the southwest of the country, a source in Kyiv told Reuters.

Another drone struck one of Russia’s ten largest oil companies in terms of oil production Slavneft-Yanos oil refinery on January 29, but the Russian air defences thwarted the drone.

Russian energy giant Novatek was forced to suspend some operations at the huge Baltic Sea fuel export terminal at Ust-luga as well as “technological processes” at a nearby fuel-producing complex due to a fire, started by what Ukrainian media said was a drone attack.

A fire also started at Russia’s third-largest refinery in Ryazan on January 19, while oil storage tanks in the Bryansk region caught fire on the same day after a drone was brought down and crashed into the site.

Russia and Ukraine have targeted each other’s energy infrastructure in strikes designed to disrupt supply lines and logistics and to demoralise each other as they bid to get the edge in a nearly two-year-old war that shows no sign of ending.