MOSCOW (Reuters) -A fire at the Afipsky oil refinery in Russia’s Krasnodar region, caused by fallen drone debris, was extinguished, local emergency services said on Thursday.
The Russian Defence Ministry said air defence systems had shot down nine Ukrainian drones over the region overnight.
The Ukrainian military confirmed that its drone units had hit the refinery in Krasnodar region, without providing details.
It was not immediately clear what the extent of the damage was at the Afipsky refinery, which together with the Krasnodar refinery processed 7.2 million metric tons of crude oil in 2024.
Market sources said the disruption at the Afipsky refinery may lead to lower use of crude, potentially adding extra barrels to Russia’s exports in August.
Ukraine has regularly struck Russian crude refineries, pumping stations and ports used for oil and gas exports in drone attacks.
Russia plans to increase exports from its western ports to nearly two million barrels per day in August, about 200,000 bpd more than a previous estimate, after two refineries were left with more crude to export after cutting runs following Ukrainian drone attacks.
The Ryazan and Novokuibyshevsk refineries, both operated by the Rosneft oil company, halted operations on several crude distillation units following the drone strikes on August 2. Repairs will take about a month, three industry sources said.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Mark Trevelyan)
