Ukraine Resumes Strikes on Russian Refineries: Three Plants Hit in Three Nights, About a Tenth of National Capacity
Ukraine struck three Russian oil refineries on three consecutive nights from October 30 to November 1, resuming a campaign against Russian energy infrastructure that had paused for about two weeks. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed on November 2 that Ukrainian forces had hit three major refineries on Russian soil.
According to Reuters and other outlets, the first strike came before dawn on October 30, when Ukrainian FP-1 long-range drones hit Rosneft's Novokuybyshevsk refinery in the Samara region and set it ablaze; the drone maker Fire Point said its aircraft struck the plant's diesel hydrotreating unit. It was Ukraine's first refinery strike since October 15. On October 31, drones hit the Bashneft-Novoil refinery in Ufa, capital of Bashkortostan, sending smoke over the plant. Overnight into November 1, a mass drone attack targeted the Kstovo district of Nizhny Novgorod region, where Governor Gleb Nikitin said more than 100 drones were downed and Ukrainian media identified the target as Lukoil's NORSI refinery, which processes about 17 million tonnes of crude a year. The three refineries together process roughly 33 million tonnes a year, about a tenth of Russia's total refining capacity by Ukrainian open-source monitors' estimates.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak confirmed on October 30 that three refineries and a gas-chemical complex had been hit, saying the pause in such attacks had ended. Zelenskyy said on November 2 that Ukrainian forces had also struck a plant in Kamensk, Rostov region, that produces fuel for Russian weapons systems.
The strikes followed a pause of about two weeks during which, according to reporting, Kyiv had held off at Washington's request ahead of the U.S. midterm elections; officials in Kyiv told the Kyiv Independent that Ukraine had never agreed to a proposed 30-day suspension of refinery strikes conveyed by White House senior adviser Jared Kushner.
Source: Reuters
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：俄罗斯乌法市的炼油厂（资料图），该市的巴什石油炼油厂是此次三夜袭击的目标之一。照片 CC BY-SA 4.0，作者 Svetlov Artem，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The oil refinery in Ufa, Russia (file photo); the city's Bashneft refinery was one of the targets of the three-night strike campaign. CC BY-SA 4.0, by Svetlov Artem, via Wikimedia Commons.
