The nighttime Russian attack on the oil refinery in Tatarstan was a joint operation of the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) and the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine, sources say.
According to the sources, the strikes in Tatarstan was a joint operation of the SSU and the DIU. A long-range drone attacked a primary oil refining unit at a refinery in Nizhnekamsk, which caused a fire.
The capacity of the unit was 8 million tons of oil. This, in turn, amounts to 2.6% of the total annual refining capacity of the Russian Federation per year. Moreover, the aforementioned plant is one of the 5 largest refineries in the terrorist country.
"We continue to work systematically to ensure that Russia has fewer and fewer opportunities to finance its war of aggression against Ukraine. We will continue to cut off the oxygen to the gas station country to minimize the flow of oil dollars to Russia's military budget," the source says.
Another source adds that the strikes at Russian facilities will not only continue but will intensify.
Russian refineries have been hit
Since January 2024, Ukraine has intensified its attacks on Russian oil infrastructure. Some strikes were made against large refineries. As of March 15, 15 attacks have been carried out against Russian refineries, and eight plants have suffered significant damage.
As CNN reported, Ukraine has begun using drones equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) to attack refineries. Experts believe that the technology is only in the early stages of developing its potential.
Today, on April 2, in addition to the refinery in Tatarstan, the Russian Shahed assembly plant was also hit.