Ukrainian drones attacked Russia's third-largest oil refinery on Tuesday, about 1,300 kilometers from the front lines, hitting a central unit that processes about 155,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
Russian authorities said their jamming devices were jammed by a Ukrainian drone near the Taniko refinery, which has an annual production capacity of more than 17 million tons (340,000 barrels per day).
The Russian Information Agency reported that a fire broke out in the refinery and was extinguished within 20 minutes, adding that production did not stop.
Images from the scene indicated that the drone struck the CDU-7 unit at the Taniko refinery. The unit represents about half of the plant's total annual production capacity.
“A drone attack hit a company in Nizhnekamsk,” said Nizhnekamsk Mayor Ramil Mullin. “There are no casualties or serious damage. He added that the company’s technological process has not been interrupted.
The attack was one of several that occurred in Tatarstan, a highly industrialized area southeast of Moscow, in the early hours of Tuesday.
A Ukrainian intelligence source told Reuters in Kiev that Ukraine attacked a large Russian oil facility in Tatarstan to reduce Russian oil revenues.
The source also said that Ukrainian-made drones hit a facility producing Shahed long-range attack drones, causing “severe damage.” There was no immediate reaction from the Kremlin.
In recent months, Ukraine has begun attacking oil refineries in Russia, the world's second-largest oil exporter, affecting the highly lucrative trade in refined products.
According to Reuters calculations, about 14% of Russia's refining capacity was affected by drone attacks. There is greater demand for refined petroleum products than there is for Russian crude oil.
