Ukraine strikes two oil refineries deep in Russian territory, escalating energy war with global market implications

Ukraine launched long-range drone strikes on two major Russian oil refineries on July 29, hitting facilities operated by Lukoil in the Perm region and Rosneft in Ryazan. Fires broke out at both sites, according to Ukrainian security officials and the General Staff. The Perm refinery sits roughly 1,500 km from Ukraine. The Ryazan facility, with a processing capacity of approximately 17 million tonnes per year, is about 400 km from the Ukrainian border and just 120 km from Moscow. A deliberate escalation in energy targeting The twin strikes marked Ukraine’s first significant assault on large-scale Russian energy infrastructure in nearly two weeks. They also came shortly after a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US President Donald Trump. Days later, around August 2, additional strikes targeted three more refineries in the Bashkortostan republic, including a major facility in Ufa. Those sites are approximately 1,600 km from Ukraine. Zelenskyy stated that the targeted facilities process millions of tonnes of oil annually. The strategic logic is straightforward: starve Russia’s fuel supply chains, and you starve the Kremlin’s ability to fund its military campai...