In central russia, major oil refineries are being forced to halt or reduce operations following drone attacks. Over the past two weeks, this has affected key energy infrastructure facilities. This is stated in a Reuters report.
According to the agency, in 2026 the number of attacks on the russia’s energy infrastructure has increased, while the number of oil refineries targeted has effectively doubled since the beginning of the year.
In the second half of May, plants in central russia that supply the domestic market and a significant share of exports practically stopped operations.
Among the facilities that came under attack are refineries in moscow, Kirishi, Nizhny Novgorod, Ryazan, and Yaroslavl.
In particular, the Ryazan refinery has been completely shut down since May 15, and the moscow refinery since May 17. According to sources, “Yaroslavnefteorgsintez” is operating at about a quarter of its capacity.
One of the largest plants, “Kirishinefteorgsintez”, with a capacity of 20 million tons per year, has been shut down since May 5. “Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez”, with a capacity of 17 million tons, has also come under attack, but its current condition is not precisely known.
The combined capacity of the enterprises that have fully or partially stopped operations exceeds 83 million tons per year. This is about a quarter of all oil refining capacity in russia.
“According to the agency’s calculations, from January to May about 11% of primary refining capacity in russia was idle due to UAV attacks”, - the article states.
These plants collectively accounted for more than 30% of gasoline production and about 25% of diesel fuel production.
Some other enterprises that could compensate for the losses are also operating in a limited mode or have been shut down due to similar attacks.