Ukraine hits Russian oil
- Ukraine struck four “important” Russian oil facilities overnight, hitting refineries, a Crimea oil depot and a Baltic Sea port. (reuters.com) - Kyiv’s Unmanned Systems Forces say Russian oil shipments fell by 880,000 barrels a day, costing roughly $100 million in daily revenue. (kyivpost.com) - Russia kept up heavy drone operations in response, reportedly launching 219 drones while also claiming interceptions of 258 Ukrainian drones. (the-independent.com; reuters.com)
Ukraine widened its drone campaign against Russia’s oil sector overnight, hitting refineries in Samara, a fuel depot in occupied Crimea and a Baltic Sea export port. (usnews.com) Russian officials said the strikes hit industrial sites in Syzran and Novokuibyshevsk in the Samara region, while Leningrad region governor Alexander Drozdenko said a fire was extinguished at the port of Vysotsk near St. Petersburg. Reuters reported the Vysotsk terminal is operated by Lukoil and exports diesel fuel, vacuum gas oil and naphtha. (usnews.com; logistics.maritimeprofessional.com) Ukrainian and Russian-linked reports also described a fire at an oil depot in Sevastopol, the main Russian naval hub in occupied Crimea. Ukraine’s military did not publicly claim that strike in the Reuters report, but local monitoring channels and Ukrainian outlets said the depot burned after the overnight attack. (english.nv.ua; usnews.com) Kyiv says these attacks are aimed at the system that moves and processes Russian crude, not just individual tanks or pipelines. Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces said daily Russian oil shipments through key ports have fallen by about 880,000 barrels, cutting revenue by roughly $100 million a day at current Urals crude prices. (kyivpost.com) That campaign now reaches from inland refineries on the Volga to export points on the Baltic and Black Sea routes. The Institute for the Study of War’s Critical Threats Project said Ukraine’s General Staff reported strikes on the Novokuibyshevsk and Syzran refineries, the Vysotsk Lukoil-2 terminal and the Tikhoretsk pumping station in Krasnodar Krai on the night of April 17-18. (criticalthreats.org) Russia kept up its own long-range drone pressure at the same time. Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia launched 219 drones overnight into April 18, and that air defenses shot down or suppressed 190 of them, with 28 strikes recorded at 17 locations. (ukrinform.net) Moscow said it intercepted 258 Ukrainian drones over 16 Russian regions, occupied Crimea, and the Black and Azov seas. The Associated Press reported those Russian claims could not be independently verified, even as regional governors acknowledged fires at oil-related sites. (sfgate.com) The strikes fit a pattern that has built over months: Ukraine uses relatively cheap drones to force shutdowns, repairs and air-defense spending deep inside Russia, while Russia uses larger drone salvos to wear down Ukrainian air defenses and hit cities and infrastructure. Overnight on April 18 showed both strategies running at full pace. (criticalthreats.org; ukrinform.net)
