Another major Russian refinery halts operations following drone attack – Reuters
Illustrative photo: Volgograd refinery halted operations after a drone attack (Russian media)
Lukoil’s Volgograd oil refinery has stopped operations following a strike by Ukrainian drones, Reuters informs.
Sources told the agency that the drone attack damaged the main CDU-5 processing unit, with a capacity of 9,100 metric tons (66,700 barrels) per day, and the hydrocracking unit, with a capacity of 11,000 tons.
"The plant has been stopped. CDU-5 was on fire; there is some damage to the hydrocracker," one source said.
Reuters’ request to Lukoil for comment on the incident went unanswered.
Last year, the Volgograd refinery processed 13.7 million tons of oil, accounting for 5.1% of Russia’s total oil refining output.
The plant specializes in deep oil processing and produces gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel, fuel oil, bitumen, and other petroleum products.
This drone attack on the Volgograd refinery is at least the third in the past three months, with previous attacks occurring on August 14 and 19.
Strikes on Russian refineries
Recently, two refineries — the petrochemical plant in Bashkiria and the Nizhny Novgorod refinery — halted operations following drone attacks.
Prior to that, Ukraine’s Defense Forces targeted the Saratov oil refinery in Russia’s Saratov region. Hits were recorded on the facility, and a fire broke out in the area of the processing units.
Earlier, Security Service of Ukraine head Vasyl Malyuk stated that Ukraine has already carried out 160 strikes on refineries and other facilities deep within Russia.
He noted that just in September and October, several key refineries were hit, leading to a 90% drop in oil production and a fuel shortage exceeding 20%.
