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Ukrainian Forces Strike Russian Oil Refinery, Sparking Fire
Confirmed
In Short: Trump pressed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a phone call to halt Kyiv's drone and missile strikes on Russian refineries.
Ukrainian forces struck Russia's Ilsky oil refinery overnight on September 26, according to Ukraine's General Staff. The attack, carried out by the 1st Separate Center of the Unmanned Systems Forces and the 414th Unmanned Systems Brigade, known as 'Madyar's Birds,' was aimed at the facility located approximately 400 kilometers from where the Ukrainian drones were launched.
The strike caused a fire at the Ilsky refinery, one of the largest oil-processing facilities in southern Russia, producing nearly 6.6 million tons of fuel annually. The facility has been targeted repeatedly by Ukrainian forces throughout the full-scale war.
Independent Russian outlet ASTRA confirmed the attack, noting that the Ilsky refinery had been struck at least 16 times by June. Russian and Ukrainian monitoring channels reported explosions in the area of the refinery as the drone activity continued overnight.
Ukraine's attacks on Russian oil facilities have led Russia to impose restrictions on its own fuel exports, contributing to a global diesel shortage. US President Donald Trump has urged Ukraine to stop hitting Russian diesel refineries, blaming the attacks for creating a shortage that he said was 'hurting the world.
Ukraine, however, argues that Russian energy infrastructure is a legitimate military target since it directly powers Moscow’s finances and its war on Ukraine. Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG Group, told Al Jazeera that while Ukraine’s strikes are affecting Russia’s key export industry, the real impact for now is on Russian civilians.
Trump pressed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a phone call to halt Kyiv's drone and missile strikes on Russian refineries. Zelenskyy, however, has not agreed to a formal ceasefire, and Ukrainian officials believe Trump could be holding up implementation of sanctions as leverage to push Ukraine to halt its refinery attacks.
The Kremlin welcomed the idea of a truce without confirming an agreement, stressing that safe navigation guarantees for tankers were also required to resolve the issue of Russian petroleum products reaching global markets.
Russia has continued its own strikes on Ukrainian targets, hitting energy infrastructure, petrol stations, commercial warehouses, and other businesses, intensifying the missile war between the two countries.
What this adds
The Sunday call came hours after Ukraine hit Moscow with what Russian authorities described as the largest-ever drone attack on the capital, setting a major oil refinery ablaze and killing at least two people while injuring 20 others.
According to people briefed on Russian President Vladimir Putin's thinking, cited by the FT, Putin is unlikely to agree to any truce before the end of the coming winter, when his forces are reportedly planning a major aerial bombardment of Ukraine's energy grid.
A recent assessment by Ukraine's KSE Institute found that the U.S.-Iran war has had a far larger impact on global diesel, oil, and gas supplies than Ukraine's drone campaign against Russian refineries.
Background
The General Staff of Ukraine stated that the targeted refinery in Yaroslavl supplies fuel and lubricants to Russian forces and is a major supplier of petroleum products in southern Russia.
According to the Ukrainian Defense Forces, strikes were made on oil refineries in Krasnodar Krai and Tatarstan, as well as a facility used to launch Russian attack drones.
What's confirmed
- So, are the Ukrainian attacks really driving the global diesel shortage?
What's still developing
- Ukrainian officials said Trump and Zelensky discussed the possibility of trilateral talks involving the United States, Ukraine, and Russia.
- “A cessation of Ukrainian attacks might bring the price down slightly and in the short term,” Beauchamp told Al Jazeera.
- A second senior Ukrainian official said Trump emphasized he was "very worried" about rising diesel prices and wanted to ensure Russian supplies could keep reaching global markets to provide relief.
- According to people briefed on Russian President Vladimir Putin's thinking, cited by the FT, Putin is unlikely to agree to any truce before the end of the coming winter, when his forces are reportedly planning a major aerial bombardment of Ukraine's energy grid.
- Putin is said to believe his forces will capture the remaining areas of Donbas and to view the air campaign as leverage to extract further concessions from Kyiv.
- One senior Ukrainian official told the FT they believed Trump could be holding up implementation of the sweeping Russia sanctions law he signed last week as leverage to push Ukraine to halt its refinery attacks, though the official said Trump could equally use the sanctions as leverage against Moscow to restart direct negotiations, noting the administration has generally favored using sanctions as negotiating tools rather than automatically enforcing them.
- A large number of their Diesel refineries have been blown up and are, at least temporarily, out of commission." "This ridiculous and never-ending war with Ukraine must be ended.
- The Sunday call came hours after Ukraine hit Moscow with what Russian authorities described as the largest-ever drone attack on the capital, setting a major oil refinery ablaze and killing at least two people while injuring 20 others.
Sources
- The Kyiv Independentlink
- Al Jazeeralink
- Turkiyetodaylink
- Azernewslink
- Huffingtonpostlink
- Newsweeklink
- Enlink
- Kyivpostlink
- Kyivindependentlink
- BBClink
- Englishlink
- Themoscowtimeslink
- Bbntimeslink
- WarpBeat — background on Ukrainian Forces Strike Russian Oil Refinery and Electronics Plant link
- WarpBeat — background on Ukrainian Drones Hit Russian Oil Depots, Causing Fires and Casualties link
- Forbes Breaking News — video link