Ukraine’s drone strikes on Russian energy infrastructure have disrupted 14% of the country’s oil refining capacity. However, these attacks had a negligible effect on Russia’s electricity output, the Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency said.
Ukraine, relying on US-led aid to combat Russia, has intensified attacks on targets within Russian territory, including refineries, to deplete Putin’s war resources. However, the US has cautioned that these strikes could destabilize global oil prices.
The loss of some Russian refining capacity pushed up domestic prices up to 30% by mid-March, according to an assessment by the Defense Intelligence Agency, which was summarized in a report released by the inspector general overseeing US aid to Ukraine Robert Storch.
“To mitigate the impact of these strikes, Russia banned gasoline exports for six months starting in March, began importing refined products from Belarus, planned to import from Kazakhstan, and prioritized shipments of petroleum products by Russian Railways, as opposed to other means of transportation,” the report said.
However, Russia’s robust electricity generation capacity and grid redundancy have limited the disruption to its military and civilian population.
Ukrainian attacks have also altered Russian naval operations in the Black Sea, with the fleet avoiding the Ukrainian coast and relocating some ships from Russian-occupied Sevastopol, Crimea to Novorossiysk, Russia.
Read more:
- Ukraine seeks US intelligence on targets inside Russia – media
- Ukraine hits another oil depot in southwestern Russia near occupied Crimea (video)
- Ukraine destroys Russia’s Dzhankoi helicopter base air defenses, enabling further deep strikes on occupied Crimea
- Over 100 Russian troops killed in ATACMS strike, footage shows
- Sky News confirms that Cameron said UK backs Ukrainian strikes inside Russia with UK-supplied weapons
