On the morning of April 2, 2024, drones hit an oil refinery in Nizhnekamsk, in Russia’s Tatarstan region. About 1,300 km separated the target from the combat zones, and Tatarstan had not been attacked from the air once since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
The refinery was Taneco, Russia’s third-largest. Reuters, as carried by Arab News, said a fire broke out but was put out “within 20 minutes”, and officials insisted output never stopped. An industry source called the damage “not critical”. Pictures from the site, though, pointed to the CDU-7 unit, the plant’s primary processing line, which handles roughly 155,000 barrels a day according to that report. Euromaidan Press put the whole refinery at approximately 360,000 barrels daily; Maritime Executive gave 340,000. Either way, Taneco accounts for about 6.2% of Russia’s refining capacity, per the Reuters account.
Two targets, one morning
Taneco was not the only site hit. Drones also went for a plant in the Alabuga special economic zone near Yelabuga, which assembles Iranian-designed kamikaze drones that Russia calls “Geran-2”. Euromaidan Press noted those drones had been used in over 600 strikes on Ukraine the previous autumn. Security sources said the factory lost part of its production capability, and video showed a large drone closing on the plant’s dormitory complex.
A Ukrainian intelligence source told Reuters the Ukrainian-made drones caused “significant damage” to military targets. Russian officials said electronic warfare systems had intercepted the drones. Ukraine’s military intelligence said the aim was to cut Russian oil revenue. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov replied: “The Kyiv regime continues its terrorist activity.”
A campaign already under way
The Tatarstan raid extended a pattern rather than starting one. Euromaidan Press listed strikes on several refineries and fuel depots between January and March 2024. British intelligence assessments, it reported, put the drop in Russian refining capacity at 7 percent for the first quarter, and Western sanctions on equipment were expected to slow repairs.
Reuters estimates cited by Maritime Executive counted 15 refinery attacks by early April that year. They damaged eight facilities and took approximately 900,000 barrels per day offline. Reuters, in the Arab News text, said Ukrainian drone strikes had disabled approximately 14% of Russian refining capacity.
Washington was uneasy. Maritime Executive reported that the Biden administration had discouraged refinery strikes, worried about oil prices in an election year and about Russian retaliation against Kazakhstan’s CPC pipeline, which carries 1.3 million barrels daily. Zelensky brushed that off: “Nobody can say to us you can’t.” Euromaidan Press added that Ukraine denied being asked to stop at all.
The reasoning Kyiv gave was practical. Ukraine described the long-range drone effort as a defensive answer to Russian attacks on its own energy system, and officials argued that refinery losses could disrupt Russian war logistics and produce fuel shortages. Crippled refining also pushes Russian producers to export more unrefined crude, which limits what the country can process at home.
Novoshakhtinsk, December 2024
The campaign kept widening. On December 19, 2024, the SBU and Ukraine’s Naval Forces jointly struck the Novoshakhtinsky refinery in Rostov region, reported by Babel. Sources told the outlet that SBU drones overwhelmed the plant’s air defenses, opening a “window of opportunity” for Ukrainian jet missiles. The refinery, which makes fuel oil, heating oil, marine fuel and diesel, was described as the only one operating in Rostov region. A large fire spread across several areas, and the ELOU-AVT-2.5 unit, built to produce liquefied hydrocarbon gases, was hit as well. Ukraine’s General Staff confirmed the strike.
Sources
- Another oil refinery targeted in Russia's Tatarstan by drones
- Ukraine Hits Russia's Third-Largest Refinery With Long-Distance Drone
- Ukrainian drone hits Russia's third biggest refinery, damage not critical (Reuters report carried by Arab News)
- Ukraine attacked the Novoshakhtinsky refinery in the Rostov region of Russia
