Ukraine strikes back: Drones hit Russian oil depots amid crisis
According to an assessment by a PISM analyst, Russia aims to destroy Ukraine's energy sector by winter. Meanwhile, Ukrainians continue drone attacks on Russian oil depots.
In August alone, Ukrainians attacked Russian oil depots at least three times. On August 18, drones caused a major fire in Proletarsk in the Rostov region. Five days later, they renewed their attack. Two days earlier, drones targeted a depot in the city of Salsk, located about 19 miles from Proletarsk. This facility had already been attacked in May.
As reported by "The Moscow Times," another oil depot in the Rostov region is now in flames after a nighttime drone attack. Although the region governor did not mention the oil depot in his Telegram post, "The Moscow Times" refers to a video showing a pillar of black smoke.
In May, we reported that Ukrainian drones disrupted fuel infrastructure to prevent supplies from reaching the front. Ukraine is causing another fuel crisis for Russia. Even then, strikes on refineries reduced refinery capacity by various estimates from 4% to as much as 7% of fuel production. Prices at stations increased by 25%. The Kremlin has already had to limit fuel sales to external markets to ensure enough fuel for rising domestic needs.
Russians targeting Ukrainian energy sector
Fuel and energy infrastructure are high on the target list for both sides of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. On Monday morning, 15 regions of Ukraine were under massive Russian missile fire. The attack was primarily aimed at energy infrastructure.
Maria Piechowska, an analyst for Ukraine in the Eastern Europe program at the Polish Institute of International Affairs, assessed that Russia's attacks on Ukraine will certainly continue. According to her, this is partly due to Ukrainians' ability to continually rebuild the country, especially with the help of partners, including Poland. She noted that the Ukrainian government must protect cities and cannot move all air defence systems to the front, where they are more needed.
Russia has a "dual goal - on the one hand, to burden the Ukrainian air defence system; on the other hand, to wear down Ukrainians with the war, creating a difficult situation where it will simply be hard to live," the expert said. For this reason, she emphasized, Russia wants to destroy Ukraine's energy sector by winter.
