Ukraine attacked two Russian oil refineries and other major oil targets over Saturday, officials said, just hours after the United States granted Russia further exemptions on the sale of sanctioned oil.
Kiev’s drone force commander Robert “Madiyar” Brobdy said in a telegram that Ukraine attacked the Novokybyshevsk and Syzran oil refineries in Russia’s Samara region, the Tikhoretsk oil terminal in the Krasnodar region, the Baltic Sea port of Vysotsk, and the Sevastopol oil depot in occupied Crimea.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense did not confirm the attack, saying only that its air defense forces intercepted 258 Ukrainian drones overnight.
However, Russian local authorities reported the attack or its consequences. Samara region governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev said “a strike has been registered” against what he called an “industrial facility” and that emergency services were on the scene.
The Krasnodar Region Emergency Operations Headquarters announced that “224 personnel and 56 pieces of equipment” were involved in putting out the fire at an oil depot in Tikhoretsk.
Alexander Drozdenko, the governor of the Leningrad region, where the port of Vysotsk is located, said on Saturday morning that a drone attack had started a fire at the port, which had since been extinguished.
Brobdy made no secret of the fact that the attack was in response to a re-waiver from the United States that would allow the delivery and sale of sanctioned Russian oil until May 16, accusing the United States of “cynicism” and warning that the move would come at a cost of “Ukrainian lives.”
The US Treasury issued the waiver on Friday as the Trump administration desperately tries to ease pressure on global oil prices caused by the US and Israel’s war on Iran.
“As negotiations accelerate, the Treasury Department wants to ensure that oil is available to those who need it,” a U.S. Treasury Department spokesperson said.
The decision marks the second time the Russian government has taken the controversial step of allowing the sale of sanctioned crude oil and petroleum products stranded at sea. The previous waiver expired on April 11, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters by Wednesday that the administration would not renew the waiver. But on Friday, it happened.
Western countries and other allies have imposed sanctions on Russian energy exports, citing their key role in financing Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy Kirill Dmitriev said on Saturday that the exemption extension would affect 100 million barrels of Russian crude oil, in addition to the 100 million barrels covered by previous authorizations.
High oil prices and exemptions are a big boost to Russia’s already struggling finances – the International Energy Agency said earlier this week that Russia’s energy revenues nearly doubled to $19 billion in March from $9.75 billion in February.
