It’s historically unprecedented for Russia to lose this much oil refining capacity, and to do so in such a short time (in early August, just 13% of capacity was offline due to the Ukrainians). Ukraine has been targeting Russian oil refineries farther and farther into Russia in recent weeks, and the results have been stunning. What’s also unusual is that the Russians aren’t denying it anymore; the figures cited are from them. I suppose it’s much easier to lay the blame on Ukraine for the severe gas shortages that way.
And Ukraine has mostly done so through drone strikes, not with the more powerful and greater range Flamingo cruise missiles, which have so far been used sparingly. When those get used to maximum force and with a claimed range of 3000km…
John McCain’s famous quip that “Russia is a gas station run by a mafia masquerading as a country.” Well, if that is true, that gas station is running out of gas.
Source: Moscow Times
Ukrainian drone strikes, which have hit more than two dozen major oil refineries in Russia since early August, have plunged the Russian fuel market into a crisis the likes of which it has never seen.
As of September 28, 38% of primary oil refining capacity, or 338,000 tons per day, was idle at refineries across the country, according to RBC, citing data from the quantitative information agency Siala.
