Ukraine says it sent drone 930 miles into Russia to strike oil refinery

• Ukraine says it carried out its farthest drone strike yet, hitting a Russian oil refinery 930 miles away.
• Ukrainian security services claimed responsibility for the attack on Wednesday.
• The effectiveness of the strikes is debated. Some claim they are putting pressure on the Russian oil sector.

The latest Ukrainian air attack on Russian soil is the farthest ever, Ukrainska Pravda reported, with officials saying a drone flew 930 miles to strike an oil refinery far within Russia’s borders.

Anonymous sources within Ukraine’s security services told the outlet that one of their drones struck a Gazprom refinery in the Russian republic of Bashkortostan on Wednesday.

The region’s head, Radiy Khabirov, confirmed that smoke was coming from the refinery but said it was operating normally, according to Russia’s official news agency RIA Novosti.

Footage of the aftermath of the apparent attack was also posted on the popular pro-Russian Telegram account Baza.

The strike, which has not been independently confirmed, would represent a long-range record in Ukraine’s increasingly ambitious series of drone strikes against Russian energy facilities.

In early April, Ukraine demonstrated the increasing range of its drones after Russian officials reported strikes 620 miles inside their country.

But the fierce campaign – launched in earnest in January – has apparently struck a chord with the United States.

Reports claim that the White House contacted President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to express concern that reducing Russian oil production would destabilize global energy prices.

Michael Liebreich, founder of Bloomberg New Energy Finance, along with energy analysts Lauri Myllyvirta and Sam Winter-Levy, highlighted in a Foreign Affairs article this week how Ukrainian strikes could harm Russia without sending prices skyrocketing. world oil companies.

The attacks largely hit Russia’s refining capacity, rather than its oil fields, they said, forcing Russia to export crude oil, which will likely lower prices globally.

The strikes have also led to a rise in prices of refined petroleum products in Russia itself, they say.

These are some of the specific areas where the West’s unambitious sanctions have had no effect.

But there is some skepticism about the effectiveness of these attacks.

Carnegie scholar Sergey Vakulenko wrote in April that even if Ukraine removed every refinery within its reach, Russia would likely still be able to obtain enough oil for its own needs.

Meanwhile, several experts told Business Insider last month that Ukraine would do well to ignore U.S. advice.

Ann Marie Dailey, a geopolitical strategist at the RAND Corporation, told BI that while the impact won’t be immediate, “putting constant pressure on Russia’s oil sector would have a significant impact on Russia’s ability to fight this war.” “.

Russian officials regularly downplay the impact of the strikes. But some indicators show that the pain is being felt: Russia has announcement a six-month gasoline export ban, and Ukraine says its attacks have reduced Russian oil production and processing by 12 percent.