Russia's largest oil refinery stops operations after Ukrainian drone attack

The Omsk Oil Refinery, the largest in Russia, has ceased operations since being attacked by a Ukrainian drone on Monday 6 July.

Source: Reuters, citing sources

Details: Monday's strike on the refinery, deep in Siberia, was one of Ukraine's longest-range attacks since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, now in its fifth year.

The shutdown of the plant, Russia's largest petrol producer, is likely to worsen fuel shortages across the country.

"Facilities at the Omsk oil refinery were damaged as a ⁠result of (Monday's) attack. No plant personnel were injured," Anatoly Seryshev, Vladimir Putin's ​representative in Siberia, said in a statement on Tuesday.

"Damage assessment is currently under way, and ​competent services have organised repair work," Seryshev said, without elaborating on how the attack has affected the refinery's operations.

Sources told Reuters that the CDU-10 crude oil primary processing unit, which accounts for around 38% of the refinery's production capacity and has a capacity of 24,580 tonnes per day, caught fire and was damaged in the attack.

The Omsk refinery has suspended sales of petrol and diesel on the St Petersburg International Commodity and Raw Materials Exchange since Tuesday, according to the exchange's data.

Background: On 6 July, Deep Strike (long-range) units from Ukraine's Special Operations Forces successfully struck Russia's largest oil refinery in Omsk.

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