Ukraine claims drone attack at Lukoil oil refinery in Russia

KYIV – Ukraine said on Nov 6 it carried out a successful drone strike at Lukoil’s Volgograd refinery in Russia, adding to the pressure on the country’s oil industry. 

The

overnight attack on the facility in the Volga region

caused explosions and a fire in the target area, Ukraine’s General Staff said in a statement on Telegram on Nov 6. Bloomberg News could not independently verify the claim and Lukoil did not immediately respond to an e-mailed request for comment.

The Volgograd refinery, which has already been attacked at least six times so far in 2025, is designed to have a crude oil-processing capacity of about 300,000 barrels a day. It supplies oil products mainly to southern regions of Russia, with some volumes also shipped for export.

Ukraine has intensified strikes on Russian oil infrastructure – from refineries to crude pipelines and sea terminals – in recent months in an effort to reduce the energy revenue that helps Moscow finance its military aggression.

Since the beginning of August, Ukrainian drones have targeted Russian oil-processing facilities at least 38 times, compared with 21 strikes between January and July, according to public statements and data gathered by Bloomberg.

US President Donald Trump is also applying pressure to Russia’s energy industry, blacklisting major oil producers Rosneft and Lukoil in October. The move followed a failed attempt to bring his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table.

In response to sanctions that are set to come into effect later in November, key buyers of Russian crude in China, India and Turkey have paused purchases and are seeking alternative supplies.

As a result, the four-week average volume of Russian crude exports to Nov 2 slumped by the most since January 2024. BLOOMBERG