A dramatic rise in Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries has sent gasoline prices in Russia to register highlights, even though the government forbids the export of gasoline to cope with the crunch.
Ukraine directs drone attacks on refineries, pumping stations and fuel trains in an attempt to harm the Russian war machine – but also to disturb daily life in Russia. Summer sees a peak question among the Russian drivers and farmers for gasoline.
Ukrainian drones alone made at least ten important Russian energy facilities this month, according to a CNN counting of attacks.
And the strategy seems to work. The refineries are good for more than 44 million tonnes of products per year – more than 10% of Russia's capacity – according to Ukraine's intelligence service.
Under the goals -the gigantic Lukoil refinery in Volgograd, the largest in South Russia. CNN uplifted clouds wavy from the plant, which was hit in the early hours of August 14. The Russian Ministry of Defense recognized damage to the factory, which was again attacked on August 19.
A large refinery in Saratov, also in South Russia, was attacked earlier this month. And fires continued to burn on Saturday at another refinery – in the Rostov region – more than two days after it had hit, according to Robert Brovdi, commander of the unmanned systems of Ukraine.
Petrol deficits are reported in various Russian regions and in the attached Crimea. The governor appointed by Russia, Sergey Aksyonov, attributed gasoline shortages to 'logistics issues' and said that the government 'took all possible measures to buy the necessary volumes of fuel and stabilize prices'.
An activist with a Pro -Boekraine group in Crimea, – Yellow Ribbon, said on Telegram that the most popular gasoline gasoline had disappeared, and “the concept that this is the result of the good drones working on the Russian economy does not allow me to be sad.”
Despite government subsidies, Russian consumers pay more on the pump. Wholesale petrol prices on the St. Petersburg exchange have risen by almost 10% this month alone and by around 50% since the start of the year.
A satellite image of an oil pump station, part of Druzhba -Pijplice, affected by drones according to the army of Ukraine, in the Tambov region in Russia on August 19, 2025. – Maxar Technologies/Reuters
Much of that increase is passed on to consumers, whereby the Russian Far East is mainly influenced. Analysts do not expect an exemption for at least a month, although the Russian government imposed a ban on exporting gasoline at the end of July – which in turn contributed to an increase in crude oil export.
“Unfortunately, our prediction is unfavorable for the time being – we will probably have to wait at least another month for the prices to fall,” Sergey Frolov, managing partner at Neft Research, told the Russian newspaper Kommersant. Kommersant said that the rise in prices this month “was due to accidents in oil refineries.”
The army is less affected because its demand is mainly for diesel, the stocks of which are less affected.
A new focus
The Ukrainian military and intelligence services have developed long -term wars with the help of drones, rockets and sabotage, even if a completely different conflict unfolds on the ground. The army claimed this month that long -distance attacks caused $ 74 billion in damage this year, with almost 40% of the strikes at least 500 kilometers in Russia.
It is not possible to verify such claims, but there is a lot of visual evidence of damage to refineries, storage tanks and pumping stations in recent months. Repairing such an infrastructure is complicated by European and American sanctions.
In a report on Thursday, the foreign intelligence service of Ukraine said that Russian companies urgently bought Petroleum from Wit -Russia to tackle domestic deficits. The refinery of the state in Belarus, Belneftekhim, says that in the past week “Interest in white-Russian oil products on the Russian market has risen.”
Ukraine also tries to hinder the Russian export of oil. Last week the drones found the Druzhba pipeline that supplies Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia -two EU countries whose governments remain on good terms with Moscow.
Both complained to the EU and said “with these attacks Ukraine does not hurt Russia in the first place, but Hungary and Slovakia.”
US President Donald Trump also intervened and said in a handwritten note against Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban that he was “very angry” about the disturbance.
But for Ukraine, under pressure on the front lines, attacks on the Russian vital energy industry are a way to prevent the story of Moscow that the victory is ultimately inevitable.
Ukraine tries to add to his arsenal of long-distance sweaps and last week unveiled a cruise rocket called the Flamingo in its own country. The manufacturer wants to produce 200 a month.
Rocket expert Fabian Hoffman says that for a soft target such as distillation columns of Russian refineries, for example, the fatal radius of the Flamingo would be more than 38 meters. That would cause considerable damage.
Employees inspect a Flamingo Cruise Missile in Fire Point's Secret Factory in Ukraine on 18 August 2025. – Ephrem Lukatsky/AP
“Every rocket that successfully hits its goal will cause much more damage [than existing Ukrainian weapons] With its 1,150 kilogram nuclear head, “says Mick Ryan, author of the Futura Doctrina blog.
“Although I wouldn't call it a silver bullet, it will have a significant impact on the capacity of Ukraine to harm Russia,” not least because it is difficult to defend every oil refinery.
In the meantime, analysts do not expect thousands of Russian petrol stations to run dry, but believe that the disturbance will worsen high inflation and probably an extension of the ban on gasoline exports in the fall, because the Kremlin tries to fall the prices and to guarantee the delivery.
CNNs Anna Abekah-Mensah has contributed to this report
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