Ukraine has escalated its strikes on Russia's fuel infrastructure, with Kyiv's drones hitting two more refineries inside Russia overnight Saturday.
The Krishi refinery, located deep inside Russian territory near St. Petersburg, was hit during the night, with large flames rising from the damaged industrial complex. A urea production plant was also struck, and a fuel train was attacked near St. Petersburg, apparently as part of Ukrainian sabotage operations.
In less than a month and a half, Ukraine has carried out 17 attacks against 12 refineries across Russia. Together, those facilities account for 45% of Russia's fuel production. Analysts believe that between one-fifth and one-quarter of the country's refining capacity has been knocked out, causing billions of dollars in losses to the Russian economy and to Moscow's war effort. Ukraine has also targeted related infrastructure, including oil pipelines, transfer terminals and rail networks.
While Russia regularly strikes Ukraine's civilian infrastructure in an effort to hinder the country's defense industry and lower public morale, Kyiv has chosen to focus on Russia's oil sector, the biggest source of revenue for President Vladimir Putin's regime.
The toll of Ukraine's campaign is already being felt in Russia, where long lines have formed at gas stations in several major regions. In some places, fuel prices have jumped by dozens of percentage points at the few stations where supplies remain.
