What really happens after Ukraine strikes a Russian oil refinery? Meduza analyzed unique satellite data to assess the damage.
Ukraine continues to attack Russian refineries. Sometimes drone strikes don’t have significant consequences; other times, production has to be halted for months. It’s hard to assess the campaign’s overall effectiveness: authorities don’t disclose information about the condition of refineries, and one can only rely on indirect data. The most important of these are exchange trading in petroleum…
Ukraine has been targeting Russian oil refineries, with varying results in terms of effectiveness. Although authorities do not disclose information on the condition of refineries, analysts have obtained thermal satellite data from Constellr, a German company. This data reveals information about the status of equipment at refineries before and after drone strikes.
The analysis of two refineries, the Kstovo refinery in Nizhny Novgorod and the Kapotnya refinery in Moscow, showed that Ukrainian strikes damaged the main crude oil processing unit at the Kstovo refinery. However, satellite images did not confirm damage to a second unit previously reported as damaged. At the Kapotnya refinery, damage to the main unit was also confirmed.
Despite the information provided by thermal satellite data, it is essential to cross-reference it with other sources to avoid potential misinterpretations.
Written by urgent.news from Meduza (English)'s reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
