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Russian Oil Refinery Hit by Ukrainian Drone Strike, Causing Minor Damage

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Ukrainian drones have hit the Ufa oil refinery in the Russian republic of Bashkortostan, according to media reports and a post on the Telegram messenger service by the regional representative Radiy Khabirov, causing a fire at a unit of the facility that was in the middle of maintenance work.

Khabirov said the fire was small and that it was being extinguished. The Moscow Times said that falling debris also damaged pipework at the refinery, citing Khabirov's comments to Russia's Tass news agency, estimating the damage could be repaired in a couple of days.

Moscow Times' report said the refinery is about 600 miles from the Ukrainian border and that Bashkortostan is a major hub for oil processing in Russia. The attack was the latest in a series by Ukraine on the region's hydrocarbon energy infrastructure.

Bloomberg said that Ufa is the location of three oil refineries, namely Novoil, Ufimsky and Ufaneftekhim and they have a collective processing capacity of 23.5 million tons of oil per year or close to half a million barrels a day. It said it was not clear which of the three was hit in the attack.

Russia has been grappling with a domestic shortage of road transport fuel as Ukraine intensifies its attacks on refineries and crude export facilities, to deprive the government of energy export revenues that are funding the war on Ukraine, now in its fifth year.

has reached out to the Ukrainian authorities for comment.

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