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Deep strikes on Russia: How Ukraine is destroying Russian oil refineries

Deep strikes on Russia: How Ukraine is destroying Russian oil refineries Photo: Ukraine's strikes have disabled 21% of Russia's oil refining capacity (Russian media)
Author: Daryna Vialko

Over the past few weeks, Ukraine has carried out around 60 strikes on Russia's oil infrastructure, disabling at least 21% of its refining capacity. However, Russia's countermeasures against deep strikes are becoming increasingly effective, Reuters reports.

Ukraine is targeting not only Russian refineries but also pumping stations, storage facilities, and export terminals.

The refinery in Tyumen is the farthest targeted in this campaign, located 1,992 km from the border. Some Russian refineries have been hit multiple times. A source in the Ukrainian government told the agency that the goal of these strikes is to create a shortage of gasoline and diesel in Russia, complicating Russia's advances on the front lines.

Drone strikes on Russian refineries have already caused fuel supply disruptions in Russian regions. In addition, gasoline prices in Russia have risen by about 10%.

Ukraine's main challenge

Ukraine mostly uses Liutyi and FP-1 drones, which can cover distances of over 1,000 km.

According to Reuters, citing a source, each attack also involves decoy drones, launched first "to soak up fire from Russian air defences."

"Ukraine's main challenge is scale. Though it is constantly increasing production, it doesn't have enough drones to routinely overwhelm Russia's air defences, while Russia is also improving its interception rate, meaning a smaller proportion are reaching their targets," the agency writes.

To overcome enemy electronic warfare systems, Ukraine uses optical guidance technology. The drone photographs the landscape below and compares it with a preloaded map, making it impossible to jam this navigation system.

Reuters sources also confirmed that Ukraine received intelligence from the United States to conduct deep strikes.

For context, between August and September 2025, 360 gas stations in Russia shut down due to the fuel shortage.

Currently, every 50th gas station in Russia no longer sells gasoline, and due to the fuel deficit, the Russian authorities have decided to extend the ban on exporting gasoline abroad until the end of October.