Ukrainian drones struck a major oil refinery in southern Russia and a fuel depot in the Rostov region overnight, Kyiv’s military confirmed via Telegram on Wednesday, continuing a relentless campaign to dismantle the energy infrastructure financing Moscow’s war effort.
The latest barrage, which lit up the night sky over the Krasnodar region on December 17, targeted the Slavyansky Oil Refinery in Slavyansk-on-Kuban.
Ukrainian defense officials stated the refinery was being used to supply fuel to Russian occupation forces. While the full extent of the damage is still being assessed, the strike signals Kyiv’s refusal to let up on “deep strike” missions despite the onset of winter.
Simultaneously, Ukrainian forces hit the “Nikolaevskaya” oil depot in the neighboring Rostov region. Preliminary reports indicate damage to a storage tank and a river vessel, the Captain Gibert, which was docked at the facility.
A Second Front in the Caspian
The overnight attacks come as Kyiv confirms it has effectively opened a new, distant front in the energy war: the Caspian Sea.
In an operational update released Wednesday, Ukrainian officials confirmed that attack drones struck the “Grayfer” drilling rig in the Caspian Sea on December 14. The strike damaged the platform’s gas processing and pumping module, forcing a complete halt to all 14 wells at the site. The platform had been extracting roughly 3,500 tons of oil daily.
This confirmation follows a separate, daring long-range strike just days earlier. On December 11, Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) targeted the nearby Vladimir Filanovsky offshore field—a jewel in Lukoil’s portfolio, forcing the suspension of production at over 20 wells.
Taken together, the attacks on the Grayfer and Filanovsky platforms represent a strategic shift.
By striking targets in the Caspian, hundreds of miles from the front lines, Ukraine is proving that even Russia’s most remote economic lifelines are no longer safe.
Economic Pressure Mounting
The Caspian region is a critical hub not just for Russian oil, but for Central Asian exports moving through the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC). While the strikes have specifically targeted Russian-owned infrastructure, the violence introduces new volatility to a route that handles approximately 1% of the global oil supply.
“The Caspian Sea is another reminder that every enterprise supporting Russia’s war effort is a legitimate target—no matter where it is located,” an SBU source said following the initial strikes last week.
On the ground in occupied Ukraine, the pressure remains equally high. The Wednesday update also confirmed a strike on a field artillery depot belonging to Russia’s 101st Separate Logistics Brigade in the Luhansk region.
Moscow has remained largely silent on the specific damage to its offshore assets, though the Russian Ministry of Defense claimed to have intercepted dozens of drones in recent days. However, the confirmed halts in production at both Slavyansky and the Caspian rigs suggest the physical toll on Russia’s energy sector is deepening as the war approaches its fourth year.
Discover more from Energy News Africa
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.