Ukrainian Attacks on Russian Oil Production Shift the War

“The Russian war machine will only stop when it runs out of fuel,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told a gathering of Western security officials in Kyiv last month.

Zelensky was not speaking metaphorically. The Russian economy and President Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine are heavily dependent on the energy and revenue from Russian gas and oil, vital cash cows now imperiled by Ukraine’s drone attacks on refineries, ports and pipelines.

At least a dozen of the biggest refineries widely scattered around the huge Russian landmass have been hit with sophisticated Ukrainian-made drones this year, strikes that torched the facilities and shut down processing.

The drone attacks that have accelerated since July have cut gasoline output by nearly 20%, according to industry sources in reports by Kremlin-aligned media. The Russian business journal RBC put the share of idled refining capacity at 40% in mid-September.

https://www.postalley.org/2025/10/06/running-on-fumes-ukrainian-attacks-on-russian-oil-production-shift-the-war/