Ukraine has stepped up drone attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure, doubling the number of oil refineries targeted since the start of the year. Major plants in Kirishi in western Russia, Nizhny Novgorod on the Volga river and Perm in the Urals mountains have been among those hit.
In late March, drone strikes on the Baltic ports of Primorsk and Ust-Luga caused fires at fuel storage tanks, leaving terminals unable to handle oil products shipments for several weeks. In May, Baltic ports gradually resumed fuel loadings, although not yet at full capacity, market sources said.
Ukrainian drones also repeatedly struck Russia’s Black Sea port of Tuapse last month, as well as the nearby Rosneft-owned Tuapse refinery, forcing a shutdown of oil processing and fuel loading operations. Traders said exports were partly rerouted to other Russian ports.
(Reporting by Reuters in Moscow Editing by Tomasz Janowski)