Russia's total oil refining capacity down 45% due to long-range strikes, Ukrainian military says

On September 21, Ukraine's General Staff reported that the country's total oil refining capacity had been reduced by 45% due to a sustained long-range strike campaign against Russian refineries. This reduction has led to a shortage of high-quality fuel in the Russian Federation, with a significant decline in the production of gasoline and diesel fuel meeting Euro-5/K5 standards, according to the Ukrainian military's assessment.

The most recent attack on the Moscow Oil Refinery, operated by Gazprom Neft, occurred on September 20, causing the facility to halt production. The attack targeted the refinery's main crude distillation units, with repair work estimated to take several weeks. Earlier strikes on the Moscow Oil Refinery, located in Yaroslavl and Samara regions, also took place since September 14.

Ukrainian military drones and missiles have proven capable of reaching targets over 1,500 kilometers away from Ukrainian-controlled territory and have been launched in large enough numbers to overwhelm Russian air defense networks, particularly around Moscow. In the September 20 attack, Russian forces shot down over 1,600 Ukrainian drones, with 450 aimed at Moscow alone.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky attributed the attack to several domestically produced weapons systems, including the Flamingo cruise missile and a drone referred to as the Pelican. However, later reports clarified that the Pelican was, in fact, a drone.