“UKRAINE STRIKES RUSSIAN OIL REFINERIES, TERMINALS IN BID TO DISRUPT PUTIN’S WAR ECONOMY”
GREATRIBUNETVNEWS–Ukraine has intensified its drone attacks on Russian oil refineries and exporting infrastructure, targeting a crucial sector of President Vladimir Putin’s economy. The strikes, which hit 10 Russian refineries in recent days, have disrupted at least 17% of Russia’s refinery capacity, equivalent to 1.1 million barrels per day.
Key Consequences:
– Gasoline Shortages: Some regions in Russia are experiencing gasoline shortages, with long queues at gas stations reported in areas like Vladivostok due to a seasonal influx of tourists.
– Economic Impact: The attacks have pushed more crude towards exports, contradicting Washington’s efforts to reduce purchases of Russian oil by China and India.
– Peace Talks: Ukraine’s actions are seen as an attempt to raise the stakes in potential peace talks, challenging the notion that Ukraine has already lost the war .
Russian Economy Under Pressure:
– Sanctions and Discounts: Western sanctions have forced Russia to sell oil at discounts and halt gas sales in most of Europe.
– *Defense Spending:* Despite economic challenges, Russia’s defense spending has surged, with a 25% rise this year to the highest levels since the Cold War.
– *Fuel Crisis:* The attacks have created a fuel crisis in Russia, with gasoline prices soaring to record highs.
Kyiv’s move is an attempt to raise the stakes in possible peace talks and challenge the idea that Ukraine has already lost the war after U.S. President Donald Trump and Putin met in Alaska this month, analysts have said.
Ukrainian attacks on 10 plants disrupted at least 17% of Russia’s refinery capacity, or 1.1 million barrels per day, according to Reuters calculations.
The drone war has pushed more crude towards exports from the world’s No.2 oil exporter at a time Washington is pressing China and India to reduce purchases of Russian oil.
The refinery hits come as Russia’s seasonal demand for gasoline from tourists and farmers peaks.
Russia had tightened its gasoline export ban in July to deal with a spike in domestic demand even before the attacks.
There were shortages of gasoline in some areas of Russian-controlled Ukraine, southern Russia and even the Far East, forcing motorists to switch to more expensive petrol due to shortages of the regular A-95 grade.
“We will endure, but this is a big hit to our family budget, a big hit. It’s really noticeable,” said Svetlana Bazhanova, a resident of Sevastopol, the largest city in Crimea which Russia annexed in 2014.
TOURISM DEMAND
Russia’s far eastern port of Vladivostok saw long car queues at gasoline stations, according to a Reuters reporter. The shortages are due to a seasonal influx of tourists, local authorities said.
The affected refineries have lost only part of their capacity but this could still create problems with domestic fuel supplies, said Sergei Vakulenko, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, who previously worked at Russian oil major Gazprom Neft.
Russia relies on oil and gas exports for a quarter of its budget revenues, which are funding a 25% rise in defence spending this year to the highest levels since the Cold War.
Western sanctions have forced Moscow to sell oil at discounts and stop gas sales in most of Europe. This has not deterred Moscow from producing record numbers of artillery and weapons, according to U.S. military generals.
The war in Ukraine has become a battle of attrition with both Russia and Ukraine using drones and missiles to strike far behind the front lines to damage each other’s economies.
So far, Russia’s economy has coped with the sanctions but growth has slowed raising concern in the Kremlin.
In the past month, Ukraine has attacked Lukoil’s Volgograd, Rosneft’s Ryazan and a host of other plants in the Rostov, Samara, Saratov and Krasnodar regions.
A fire at Russia’s Novoshakhtinsk refinery was still burning on Monday after a Ukrainian drone strike.
Ukrainian drones also attacked the Druzhba pipeline and Novatek’s (NVTK.MM), opens new tab Ust-Luga export terminal and fuel processing complex on the Baltic.
SOURCE== Reuters ==EXCEPT THE HEADLINE AND INTRO
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