It seems that the Ukrainian command managed to find a weak point of the Kremlin, analyst Volodymyr Omelchenko says. Drone strikes on Russian refineries destabilize the regime and bring its collapse closer
Over the past 2 months, UAVs targeted 14 oil refineries in Russia. As a result, 12% of all oil refining capacities of the Russian Federation were damaged in the last few weeks.
Distillation towers became the main targets at oil refining facilities, as they perform primary processing and separate oil into fractions: from light — gasoilne and kerosene, to heavy — tar and bitumen.
It is almost impossible to provide physical protection of atmospheric-vacuum distillation units, as their height reaches a twelve-storey building. Also, Russia faces big problems with protection using air defence and EW systems due to their concentration on the front line and the habitats of the main Kremlin rats. Production of new air defence systems is extremely limited due to the lack of production capacities and shortage of foreign component parts.
About 60% of all Russian refineries are located within the range of Ukrainian armed UAVs. If 2–3 distillation units are destroyed every week, in 3 to 5 months, the Russian Federation will face not only a collapse of its oil market but also a critical shortage of the "blood of war" at the front. It will also encounter insurmountable problems with the state budget revenues, because some refineries contribute the lion's share to the budges of entire regions. Drone attacks on the main oil pumping stations of main oil pipelines may become the last nail in the coffin of the Russian oil industry.
Therefore, the only reasonable way out of such a situation for the Kremlin is to stop its war in Ukraine and withdraw its armed forces from all the occupied territories, including Crimea. However, intelligence is not the greatest virtue of St. Petersburg ghouls. So, they are to face a harsh reality.
