Ukrainian Drones Hit Ukhta Refinery—Signal of New Escalation?
Ukrainian drones reportedly attacked a Lukoil oil refinery in the city of Ukhta, Komi Republic, marking the return of a wave of attacks on Russian energy infrastructure in Kyiv after a lull in intensity last month. The head of the Komi region, Rostislav Goldshtein, said a fire broke out in the refinery area and emergency services were handling the situation on the ground. He added that there were no injuries in the incident.
Ukhta is approximately 1,550 km from Moscow, and this attack extends a pattern of precision strikes that have previously pressured Russia's refining sector—from refinery shutdowns and terminal disruptions to shipping rerouting. The strategic goal has been consistent: to erode the Kremlin's energy revenues while limiting fuel supplies for the military on the front lines.
In January, attacks on Russian refineries weakened, allowing refinery operations to gradually recover and prompting the Russian government to further relax some gasoline export policies. But this week the rhythm changed: the day before, Ukraine also reportedly hit the Lukoil refinery in Volgograd—in what was described as the first major attack this year on Russia's processing industry—with a design capacity of around 300,000 barrels per day.
Compared to Volgograd, the Ukhta refinery is smaller, and in recent periods has only processed slightly more than 60,000 barrels per day. Still, repeated attacks on energy assets like this usually cause the market to reconsider supply risks and logistics costs, especially if the intensity increases and spreads to other facilities.
Source: Newsmaker.id
