Ukrainian drones crash Russia's oil industry, Russians are in a desperate situation

With each passing day, the intensity and frequency of Ukrainian drone attacks against Russian oil refineries increases. Since the beginning of this year 2024 alone, more than ten major oil refineries and depots have been damaged, some of them enduring multiple strikes.
The main goal of these attacks is to reduce the capability of the military, as fuel from Russian oil refineries is transported to Ukraine where it powers hostile tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and aircraft.
According to Ekonomichna Pravda, it is highly likely that mysterious drones will continue to attack Russia's oil infrastructure in the future, causing further destruction and damage to the aggressor.
Russia has about 30 large oil refineries and dozens of small ones. The aggressor country produces more than 530 million tonnes of oil per year, about 280 million tonnes of which are processed at domestic facilities.
Since the beginning of 2024 alone, dozens of Russian refineries and oil depots have been attacked by drones.
"In some places, they struck fuel tanks, and in other cases, the refineries were shut down for several months due to the destruction," says the source in the Ukrainian parliament.
Large-scale attacks on Russian oil refineries began in 2023. In May, drones attacked the Ilsky oil refinery in Krasnodar Krai and the Afipsky oil refinery in Kuban Oblast, and in July, an "explosive device" detonated at the Kuibyshev oil refinery in the city of Samara. Fuel storage facilities were also frequently targeted.
Since the beginning of 2024, the intensity of attacks on Russian oil refineries has increased. Damage was reported at refineries and oil depots in the Yaroslavl, Oryol, Volgograd, Tuapse, Klintsy, Ust-Luga, Ryazan, Bryansk, Belgorod, Rostov, Nizhny Novgorod and Leningrad oblasts and the city of St Petersburg.
The first objective of the attacks on Russia's oil refining infrastructure is strategic in nature.
"Russian oil refineries are a legitimate target of the Security Service of Ukraine and Defence Intelligence of Ukraine," says a source in Ukraine's Defence and Security Forces.
Attacks target military facilities or those contributing to Russia's defence, such as ones that supply fuel to Russian military equipment: tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and aircraft that fire missiles at Ukrainians.
The second objective is economic. "The oil refineries not only provide fuel for Russian troops, but are also a key source of income for the nation, which has at times been described as a ‘gas station masquerading as a country’. Russia uses the money from oil and gas sales to fight and kill Ukrainians," said an Ekonomichna Pravda source in one of the defence departments.