Strikes by Ukrainian military on Russian oil refineries are an act of self-defense, stated French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné at a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
"I will be quite clear and direct as to the strikes by Ukraine against Russian refineries. This brings almost no comment on our behalf. The Ukrainian people is acting in self-defense," emphasized the minister.
He also reminded that Russia is an aggressor, so "in such circumstances, there is hardly anything to – anything else to say."
Strikes on oil refineries
Recently, explosions have been increasingly heard at Russian oil refineries. The reason behind them is drone attacks.
As repeatedly reported by sources from RBC-Ukraine, Ukrainian Defense Forces are behind the attacks. As of March 15, 2024, there have been 15 attacks against Russian oil refineries since the beginning of the year, resulting in significant damage to eight plants.
Today, on April 2, the Security Service of Ukraine and the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine attacked the primary oil refining unit at the refinery in Nizhnekamsk, resulting in a fire.
The capacity of such unit is 8 million tons of oil, which in turn represents 2.6% of the total annual oil refining in the Russian Federation.