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Ukraine Strikes Russian Refineries and Pipeline Hub
Confirmed
In Short: Ukraine launched drone attacks on Russian oil refineries and a pipeline hub, according to Ukrainian and Indian reports.
Ukraine launched a series of drone attacks on Russian oil refineries and a pipeline hub overnight on September 20, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and reports from Euromaidanpress (Ukraine) and Hindustan Times (India).
Euromaidanpress reported that the Moscow Oil Refinery, operated by Gazprom Neft, was among the facilities hit. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin confirmed that an object at the refinery was damaged, with no casualties reported.
Hindustan Times reported that drones hit the Volgograd refinery, which can process about 300,000 barrels of crude a day, and a major oil-pumping complex in the Samara region. Both facilities are critical to Russia’s oil infrastructure.
In Moscow, an oil refinery was damaged, and flight restrictions were in place at two airports, according to Euromaidanpress. Meanwhile, Sobyanin said a drone struck a building near one of the capital's boulevards.
The Cyberboroshno project, identified the struck facility as a critical hub in Transneft's pipeline logistics system. According to Cyberboroshno, the station functions as a reservoir buffer, and its destruction creates a fuel shortage across the entire transportation system along that pipeline section.
Satellite images taken by NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management System on Friday show fresh heat anomalies both at the refinery site and the oil-pumping complex, likely indicating blazes.
The Moscow Oil Refinery is located in Moscow’s Kapotnya district and is a significant facility for Russia’s oil production.
The Samara pumping station is a crucial part of the system, feeding domestic refineries and key export routes toward the Black and Baltic seas and the Druzhba pipeline.
The facility in Samara pumps fuel through a main pipeline, accumulates it in a tank farm, and ships it onward by rail for regional distribution.
Both publications agreed that the attacks targeted critical Russian oil infrastructure, including refineries and a pipeline hub, disrupting Russia’s ability to supply fuel.
What this adds
The Cyberboroshno project identified the struck facility as a critical hub in Transneft's pipeline logistics system, adding details about the potential fuel shortages caused by the destruction.
Background
Ukraine is constructing pontoon crossings across the Dnipro River in Kyiv following Russian strikes on key bridges.
Ukraine launched drone attacks on Russian oil refineries and a pipeline hub, according to Ukrainian and Indian reports.
What's confirmed
- Ukraine launched a massive long-range drone attack on Moscow and Moscow Oblast overnight on 20 September, striking a major Russian oil refinery and a logistics facility, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
- Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin confirmed that an object at the refinery was damaged, while OSINT analysis by ASTRA of eyewitness footage also identified the refinery as one of the attack’s targets.
- Sobyanin said an object on the refinery’s territory was damaged and that there were no casualties there.
- The Moscow Oil Refinery was among the facilities hit.
- The Moscow Oil Refinery is operated by Gazprom Neft and is located in Moscow’s Kapotnya district.
- Ukraine said it attacked one of Russia’s biggest oil refineries and a key hub in the country’s crude-pipeline network, intensifying its campaign against crucial infrastructure to limit Moscow’s ability to finance the war.
- Drones hit Lukoil PJSC’s Volgograd refinery overnight, as well as a major oil-pumping complex in the Samara region, according to Ukraine’s General Staff.
- The Volgograd refinery can process about 300,000 barrels of crude a day.
- The Samara pumping station is a crucial part of the system, feeding domestic refineries and key export routes toward the Black and Baltic seas and the Druzhba pipeline.
- Lukoil and Russia’s oil-pipeline operator Transneft PJSC didn’t immediately respond to Bloomberg requests for comment.
- Satellite images taken by NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management System on Friday show fresh heat anomalies both at the refinery site and the oil-pumping complex, likely indicating blazes.
What's still developing
- Nothing material beyond the confirmed record.