The Telegraph: Ukraine’s strikes on Russian oil refineries made a difference

Mar 19, 2025 - 21:00

Ukraine's strikes on Russian oil refineries

Ukraine’s strike on oil refineries in Russia made “a tangible impact on the volume of crude oil being processed by Russian refineries as a result.”

In a comment for the Telegraph, senior oil markets analyst at Energy Aspects Livia Gallarati confirms that Ukraine managed to make a difference through it actions.

“Some of the sites that we know have been attacked and we’ve been able to corroborate that they are very big, important refineries,” she told The Telegraph, adding, “And we have seen a meaningful decline in Russian refinery runs – before the attacks, they were refining around 5.6, 5.5 million barrels per day. Now we’re down to around 5.1 million barrels per day. So there’s definitely been an impact on runs.”

According to the publication, it has collected on every reported refinery attack since the start of the full-scale invasion that experts corroborated. In 2025, the number of attacks stood at 19. The respective number for 2024 was 25

“Ukraine had certainly been planning for more. Mr Zelensky revealed on Monday that his forces had successfully tested a long-range drone capable of travelling 1,800 miles,” writes the Telegraph, adding, “Kyiv had set a target to produce one million drones in 2024. Mr Zelensky said they ended up making more than 2.2 million. This year, he has set a target of 4.5 million – all made inside Ukraine.”

The publication adds that the agreement to not strike energy targets between Ukraine, and Russia, mediated by the U.S, which has yet to come fruition, will likely preclude Kyiv from carrying out more attacks of this kind.

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