The Ukrainian army or the Main Directorate of Military Intelligence of Ukraine (GUR) seems to be particularly interested in the Volgograd refinery, following the attack on the 11th, local time on May 12, the Ukrainian army attacked the Volgograd refinery again, we do not know the situation of the Volgograd refinery after two consecutive days of attacks, but this is not the first time that this refinery has been attacked, at the latest in February this year, the Volgograd refinery has been attacked by suicide drones launched by the Ukrainian army.
We have already seen pictures and videos on the Internet of the Volgograd refinery suspected of being attacked on the 12th, and the Ukrainian side shows that after two consecutive nights of attacks, the AVT-1 and AVT-6 crude oil primary processing units of the Volgograd refinery, as well as the control cables of the air cooler, were damaged, and at least 7 coolers were shut down, especially in the attack on the night of the 12th, AVT-1 was attacked again, and the goal of the Ukrainian army was clear.
According to the data, the Volgograd refinery is one of the 10 largest refineries in Russia, with a capacity of 14.8 million tons of crude oil per year, and the refined oil produced by the refinery is mainly supplied to the southern regions of Russia bordering Ukraine and Kazakhstan, in other words, the Volgograd refinery is likely to play an important role in Ukraine's "special military operation".
The AVT-1 crude oil primary processing unit, which the Ukrainian army specifically attacked, is the main production equipment of the Volgograd refinery, which modernized the AVT-1 and hydrocracking unit in 2023, reportedly investing up to $4 billion, increasing its annual processing capacity by 21% and processing 7.26 million tons of crude oil a year.
On the 12th, Ukrainian suicide drones attacked the Kaluganefteprodukt oil depot in Lyutinovo, Kaluga region, and the exact damage is not yet known. But according to the statistics of the Ukrainian media a little earlier, so far, 40 Russian refineries and oil depots have been attacked by suicide drones of the Ukrainian army, and some Russian refineries and oil depots have been repeatedly attacked by suicide drones of the Ukrainian army.
As far as the current situation is concerned, the continuous attack on Russian oil refineries by suicide drones launched by the Ukrainian army has had some economic and social impacts, including the rise in the price of refined oil in Russia, and the crude oil originally supplied to Russian refineries was forced to sell at a low price, resulting in a decline in international crude oil prices, etc., however, we have not yet seen these actions have a significant impact on the Kremlin's "special military operation".
It is worth noting that we have hardly seen reports on whether the attacks on Russian oil refineries and oil depots had a direct impact on the "special military operation", and precisely whether they affected the supply of fuel to the Russian army fighting in Ukraine.
However, in the recent offensive launched by the Russian army on Kharkiv, we have seen evidence such as pictures and videos showing that the Russian army has almost relied on infantry covered by artillery fire in some offensives, lacking the cover of tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, and these situations have even appeared in other areas, considering that the Russian army still has many more tanks and infantry fighting vehicles than the Ukrainian army, why is this happening? Is it the reluctance of the Russian army to continue to consume more expensive tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, or is it caused by the lack of fuel for the Russian army on the front line? We don't know for the time being, but this situation is a good thing for the Ukrainian army on the front line, and the Russian infantry, which is not covered by tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, can easily be repulsed when launching an attack.