Oil depot burning in occupied Luhansk Oblast after Ukrainian strike, General Staff says

Ukraine hit a Russian fuel depot in occupied Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine’s General Staff reported on Oct. 12.

Ukrainian troops in cooperation with the intelligence service (HUR) struck a depot containing oil and petroleum products used by the Russian military near the town of Rovenky, Luhansk Oblast. The attack set the depot ablaze and Ukraine is assessing the damage.

It is not the first time the depot has been hit and Ukraine has increased drone attacks on oil infrastructure in Russia and the occupied territories this year. The attacks are designed to burn fuel to hinder the Russian army as well as weaken Russia’s economy, which relies on oil exports.

The fires can rage for days in some cases. On Oct. 7, Ukrainian drones targeted the largest oil depot in occupied Crimea, the Marine Oil Terminal, causing a fire that burned for four days and forced over a thousand people to evacuate.

On Oct. 10, two more explosions erupted at the Marine Oil Terminal, although Ukraine did not confirm if this was another attack.

Another depot fire near a town in Russia’s Rostov Oblast in August took two weeks to extinguish and injured 49 Russian firefighters.

Ukraine began its campaign against Russian oil assets in March and has hit at least 33 assets, some as deep as 1,500 kilometers into Russian territory. Despite the impressive show of burning refineries and depots, the attacks are unlikely to collapse Russia’s oil sector.

Saudi Arabia’s planned oil production hike threatens Russia’s war economy, Politico reports

Russia is greatly reliant on oil and gas exports, which have represented almost one-third of the country’s total federal revenue in 2023 and 42% in 2022. Fossil fuel profits thus play a key role in funding Russia’s expensive war machine in Ukraine.

The Kyiv IndependentMartin Fornusek

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