Russia’s refined fuel exports have plunged to their lowest level since the start of the full-scale war, as a combination of refinery outages, Ukrainian drone strikes, and Western sanctions disrupt Moscow’s energy trade, Bloomberg reported on 30 October.
The decline reflects mounting pressure on Russia’s energy sector amid both physical and financial disruption, as US and European sanctions tighten and recent Ukrainian strikes target key export infrastructure across the country.
According to data from Vortexa Ltd. cited by Bloomberg, seaborne oil product shipments averaged just 1.89 million barrels per day in the first 26 days of October, the weakest level since early 2022.
While diesel exports edged up slightly, supported by shipments to nearby markets in Türkiye and Africa, exports of naphtha and fuel oil fell sharply. Naphtha flows remained constrained after the September attack on the Ust-Luga terminal on the Baltic Sea, which handles over 60% of Russia’s naphtha exports, while fuel oil exports dropped 10% month-on-month to a three-month low.
Crude oil shipments have also slipped from recent highs, suggesting that the combined impact of sanctions and Ukrainian attacks is beginning to weigh more heavily on Russia’s oil output and export capacity.
Refinery attacks disrupt supply
Ukraine's systematic campaign targeting Russian refineries has knocked offline processing capacity worth hundreds of thousands of barrels per day. Since January 2025, Ukrainian drones have struck 21 of Russia's 38 large oil refineries.
The International Energy Agency estimates these strikes have cut Russia's refining output by 500,000 barrels per day and will keep processing rates lower until at least mid-2026.
Sanctions squeeze Moscow’s energy giants
The physical destruction of refineries now combines with financial pressure from coordinated Western sanctions.
On 22-23 October, the US, UK, and EU imposed their largest sanctions package since 2022, targeting Rosneft and Lukoil - Russia's two largest oil companies that together account for roughly half of the country's 10.6 million barrels per day output.
Within hours of the announcement, Chinese state oil firms suspended seaborne Russian crude purchases while Indian refiners prepared to slash imports, isolating Moscow from buyers representing over 85% of its crude exports.
