Photo: Russian media
On Thursday, May 28, and overnight into May 29, Ukraine’s Defense Forces carried out strikes on the Volgograd oil refinery and a number of key Russian military and logistics facilities, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The Volgograd oil refinery was hit by drones, causing a fire on the site. According to the General Staff, the attack damaged the AVT-1, AVT-3, AVT-5 and AVT-6 primary oil refining units, as well as secondary oil-processing facilities. As a result, the refinery reportedly suspended production operations.
The Ukrainian military noted that the Volgograd refinery is part of Lukoil and is one of the largest oil-processing enterprises in southern Russia, with an annual processing capacity of around 14 million tons of oil.
The facility produces gasoline, diesel fuel, aviation fuel, and other petroleum products used, among other things, to support Russian military logistics and the needs of the invading army.
Ukraine’s Defense Forces also struck the Yaroslavl-3 oil pumping station, where a fire later broke out. The General Staff said two oil storage tanks with capacities of 50,000 and 20,000 cubic meters were confirmed to be burning.
The Yaroslavl-3 station is a key hub of the Surgut-Polotsk pipeline, which transports oil from Siberia and northern Russia to the Baltic ports of Primorsk and Ust-Luga, as well as to Belarus. The facility belongs to the Russian state pipeline company Transneft.
Other Russian military targets were also hit. Ukrainian drones struck a Russian Tor-M2 air defense system near Berdianske in the Zaporizhzhia region, as well as an enemy command and observation post near Lyman Pershyi in the Kharkiv region.
Drone control centers used by Russian forces were targeted near Tyotkino in Russia’s Kursk region, Komar in the Donetsk region, and Nesteryanka in the Zaporizhzhia region.
In addition, Ukrainian forces struck a Russian logistics and supply warehouse in Aidar, Luhansk region.
The Defense Forces also attacked areas where Russian troops were concentrated near Novopetrivka and Novohryhorivka in the Zaporizhzhia region, Rodynske in the Donetsk region, Kleven in Russia’s Kursk region, Sichneve in the Dnipropetrovsk region, and Basivka in the Sumy region.
“The Defense Forces of Ukraine will continue systematically taking measures aimed at weakening the Russian occupiers and forcing the Russian Federation to stop its armed aggression against Ukraine,” the General Staff stated.
Ukrainian drone strikes against Russia’s oil and gas infrastructure have become a sustained campaign targeting a key sector of the Russian economy. According to estimates, the damage caused by such attacks has already reached approximately $100 billion.
Following the overnight attack in Yaroslavl, a large industrial zone containing fuel infrastructure caught fire, and authorities temporarily shut down traffic on the highway leading from the city toward Moscow.
