Ukraine Drone Strikes Take 25% of Russian Oil Refining Capacity Offline

Ukraine has conducted a months-long campaign of drone strikes on oil infrastructure inside Russian territory, taking 25% or more of the country’s refining capacity offline, Fortune reported. Energy analysts provided the estimate of lost capacity. The head of Russia’s biggest oil company described the damage to refineries as “unprecedented” in a letter to President Vladimir Putin that was leaked to Kommersant.

On Saturday, Ukrainian drones struck an oil terminal in St. Petersburg that had already been hit in June. The resulting shortages have forced long waits at pumps. In the Siberian city of Irkutsk, local officials promised portable toilets for motorists in line.

Alyona Sadovnikova, a 26-year-old social media worker, told the New York Times that she, her husband and their 18-month-old baby joined a gas line at 11 p.m. Friday and waited until 5 p.m. Saturday. She first encountered ration coupons at a station in mid-June.

Russia has banned exports of gasoline and jet fuel and has imported gasoline from India. ” Finance Minister Anton Siluanov denied that the situation produced a spike in gasoline prices. In Krasnodar, at least one-third of gas stations have closed.

In Crimea, fuel is now reserved mainly for municipal and emergency services, with public sales halted unless extra supplies remain.