Ukraine's Second Drone Strike in Two Days Knocks Moscow's Main Oil Refinery Completely Offline
Ukrainian drones on June 18 damaged the Euro+ refining unit at the Moscow oil refinery in Kapotnya, halting operations entirely. This is the second attack in two days, hitting key processing units and keeping the refinery offline for days.
According to Reuters sources, Ukrainian drones struck the Euro+ combined oil refining unit at the Moscow oil refinery in Kapotnya on June 18. The Euro+ unit includes a crude distillation section with a nominal capacity of about 140,000 barrels per day—47% of the refinery's total primary processing capacity—as well as a catalytic reformer and a diesel hydrotreating unit. The attack also damaged auxiliary equipment and storage tanks for crude oil and petroleum products.
Expert Sergei Vakulenko from the Carnegie Eurasian Center told independent Russian outlet Agentstvo that the June 18 strike damaged the refinery's main crude processing unit. He noted that this unit is one of two key elements supplying feedstock for commercial fuel production at other units. The refinery has two AVT units; the first, AVT-6, accounting for 53% of capacity, was damaged in Ukraine's previous strike on June 16.
The Moscow oil refinery suspended operations after the June 16 attack. Reuters sources said the refinery had planned to restart the Euro+ unit by midweek and was processing oil at roughly half capacity while repairs to AVT-6 were underway. The refinery is one of Moscow's primary fuel suppliers. The two strikes are expected to keep the refinery offline for several days.
