Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil facilities have increased in recent weeks. Since the beginning of the year, Ukraine has attacked over a dozen oil and gas facilities in Russia, including refineries, oil depots and gas terminals, in seven different regions.
On the night of Saturday, the Ukrainian SBU claims to have attacked three different refineries in the Russian region of Samsara, 80 miles from the nearest Ukrainian-controlled territory.
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The local Russian governor says the drones must have been shot down. Russian media have also chosen to report only on two of these attacks.
– The SBU continues its strategy to undermine Russia’s economic potential, which makes it possible to wage war in Ukraine, a Ukrainian source told Reuters, who further did not want to go into the extent of the attacks other than that they had results.
Ukraine wants to shift focus
Jörgen Elfving, defense analyst and former lieutenant colonel, says Dagens Nyheter that the attacks are part of Ukraine’s new plan:
– Ukraine has changed its strategies a little regarding attacks on Russian territory. Zelenskyy said at the New Year that they would attack Russia more and they have done so.
The Washington Post calls the attacks the most extensive against Russian infrastructure since Russia’s full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022. According to the newspaper, it may be both a marking before Russia’s presidential election on Sunday but also a way to shift the focus of the war from Ukraine, where there has been a reported shortage of ammunition .
How Russia will respond to Ukraine’s attacks remains to be seen. According to Elfving, the air defense will probably redistribute its resources:
– In the past it has been seen in, for example, Moscow that anti-aircraft robot systems have been ungrouped, will they do the same for essential infrastructure? he says to Dagens Nyheter.