Ukraine intensifies drone strikes on Russian oil refineries, fuel shortages grow

Ukraine's drone campaign has moved from isolated refinery hits to sustained pressure on Russia's fuel network, with Moscow's Kapotnya refinery struck twice in June and industry sources saying it is unlikely to resume production this year. The plant is the main supplier of gasoline and diesel to Moscow and the surrounding region, so the damage carries direct economic and logistical weight.

The domestic strain is spreading. As of June 24, at least 55 of Russia's 83 federal entities were reporting gasoline or diesel sales restrictions or shortages, and a separate tally on June 26 put fuel restrictions in 56 regions. The measures range from mandatory limits to curbs imposed by private station operators, showing that the disruption is reaching both state management and the retail market.

Ukraine has also pushed the campaign deeper into Russia's fuel infrastructure. Kyiv said a target in Yaroslavl Oblast was more than 700 kilometers from the Ukrainian border and belonged to Russia's state material reserve system, which stores petrol, diesel and other fuels. Ukrainian officials have also highlighted a strike on a Vtorovo station that supplied fuel to Moscow, broadening the campaign beyond refineries to the storage and distribution system that keeps the capital moving.

The latest southern strike in Krasnodar Krai set fire to a refinery and killed at least two people, Russian authorities said. Volodymyr Zelenskyy has pledged more strikes after earlier refinery hits, casting the attacks as a response to Russian assaults on Ukraine and as a way to raise the cost of the war. That makes the campaign less about battlefield spectacle than about cumulative pressure: forcing repairs, tightening fuel balances, and making Russia manage shortages inside its own borders while protecting assets that matter to both the civilian economy and military supply chains.