“This is starting to worry Putin.” The Ukrainians attack the Russian oil empire

Over the past few days, the Ukrainians have attacked the Novokozhybyshevsk, Kuybyshev and Syzran refineries in the Samara region, located about 800 kilometers from the nearest Kiev-controlled area. Rosneft's refineries collectively process approximately 25 million tons of oil annually.

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An anonymous source from Ukraine said in an interview with Reuters that the State Security Service continues to implement a strategy aimed at weakening the economic potential of the Russian Federation, allowing it to wage war in Ukraine.

The March 13 attack on the Ryazan refinery was particularly painful, operated by Ryazanneftprodukt – a subsidiary of Rosneft. There are two production lines and correction columns not working. Paweł Jeżowski from the blog ekonomiarosji.pl confirmed on YouTube's “Kremlinka Show” that 70 percent is fixed. The entire production of the refinery is located about 200 kilometers from Moscow.

This is a big blow, as the Ryazan refinery is supposed to process 18.8 million tons of oil annually. It is the main supplier of automobile fuel to the areas surrounding the capital. Ukrainian drones also struck a refinery in Slavyansk nad Kuban in the Krasnodar Territory (almost 4 million tons of oil per year). The fire started in the distillation column.

Kiev also tried to damage the country's second-largest refinery – Kirishneftyorgsentiz (20.1 million tons of oil), but the Russians shot down the drone when it approached the refinery facilities. It is not known what damage was caused.

Bloomberg, citing data from JPMorgan Chase, indicates this As a result of the Ukrainian attacks on its territory, Russia lost the ability to produce up to 900 thousand. A barrel of crude oil per day. Russia produces approximately 11 million barrels per day, which means that the production capacity of Putin's regime has decreased by approximately 8%. According to data from Worldometers.info, 900 thousand oil will allow it to occupy 24th place in the ranking of the largest oil-producing countries in the world – ahead of Azerbaijan and just behind Colombia.

The refineries are a strategic target both in terms of supplies to the front and in terms of Russia's economic policy. Kamil Lipinski, head of the climate and energy team at the Polish Economic Institute, told money.pl that the income cut is of key importance for Russia's economic and military potential, including the possibility of waging war in Ukraine.

If we take into account only the data from the European part of Russia, the Kremlin could have lost between 14% and 20%. Refining capacity.

The professor talks about a similar amount of refining losses. Vladimir Ponomaryov – Russian oppositionist, expert at the Institute for International Security and Development, former general in state service of the Russian Federation.

Daily oil production is 10-15 percent less. This is a very large number, reaching one million barrels. This is starting to worry Putin and the Kremlin. This means that our colleagues from Ukraine are moving in the right direction, says the professor. Ponomaryov, asked by money.pl about the effects of the Ukrainian attacks.

– Oil refineries are incredibly vulnerable to attack – Mikhail Krutikhin, an independent Russian energy analyst, noted in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. – He said that Ukrainian drone attacks can be very effective and will certainly continue and expand.

According to JPMorgan Chase analysts Repairs and restarting the refinery at full capacity may take “weeks, if not months.” These may be optimistic assumptions. Especially if large orthodontic columns are damaged, special devices that have the shape of a vertical tube should be used. The columns, worth millions of dollars, are essential to the rectification process on an industrial scale.

“They are used to separate crude oil into fractions using pressure, temperature and catalysts in distillation columns,” explains the New Voice of Ukraine website.

“Immediately after the accident, extensive dismantling and preparation work began, as well as the ordering of pre-repair materials and preparations. The 100-ton column head was detached and lifted with a 70-meter crane to speed up the dismantling and repair process. A total of 200 tons of steel were processed and converted into spare parts.” It was then assembled and replaced in less than 16 weeks,” we read in a report published on the official OMV website.

Ultimately, the refinery's full capacity was restored about four months after the accident. The difference is that the Austrian refinery was not attacked by a drone, and no sanctions were imposed on the country itself, preventing the replacement of spare parts, the purchase of new ones or the support of international specialists.

The Russians may have big problems, for example, regarding spare parts, but remember that they have their own specialists – Knowledge of the technologies used there. We want the Russians to run out of weapons as quickly as possible so they can begin to feel the effects of war, but we still have a long way to go. The question is to what extent the sanctions are leaking and how many “volunteers” help the Kremlin circumvent the sanctions – the professor wonders. Ponomaryov.

Two power stations were taken out of use, causing a short power outage for local residents.

– I was at this power plant and I know that an attack on it means not only material losses, but also the discontent of the population. After such an event, there will be no hot water and no electricity, and this means that ordinary people will begin to feel the war in Ukraine.. There will be more attacks on power plants. It is scandalous that one country can strike where it pleases for so long (with regard to Ukraine's energy infrastructure – editor's note), while the other country, as the victim, is unable to respond. The Ukrainians strike with precision – sums up the professor. Ponomaryov.

Piotr Bera, journalist at money.pl