Ukrainian Drone Hits Russian Oil Refinery

A Ukrainian drone struck Russia's third largest oil refinery on Tuesday about 1,300 km (800 miles) from the front lines, hitting a unit that processes about 155,000 barrels of crude per day though an industry source said it had caused no critical damage.

Russian officials said its jamming devices locked onto a Ukrainian drone near Tatneft's (TATN.MM), opens new tab Taneco refinery, which has an annual production capacity of more than 17 million tons (340,000 barrels per day).

Pictures from the scene indicated the drone hit the primary refining unit, CDU-7, at the refinery in Russia's highly industrialised Tatarstan region, though it did not appear to have caused serious damage.

The industry source, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said the personnel was returning to the plant.

A fire broke out at the refinery but was extinguished within 20 minutes, the state news agency RIA said, adding that output had not been disrupted.

According to Reuters calculations, around 14% of Russia's refining capacity has been shut down by drone attacks. There is more demand for refined oil products than for Russian crude.

The attacks on Russian refineries - many deep inside the world's largest country - have raised concern in Washington about the potential for escalation with Russia.

The US has urged Ukraine to halt attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure, warning that the drone strikes risk driving up global oil prices and provoking retaliation, according to three people familiar with the discussions.

The repeated warnings from Washington were delivered to senior officials at Ukraine’s state security service, the SBU, and its military intelligence directorate, known as the GUR, the people told the Financial Times.