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Wars 2022 02/24 Monitoring Russian and Ukraine War.

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Wars 2022 02/24 Monitoring Russian and Ukraine War.
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At least 40 per cent of Russia's oil export capacity halted, Reuters calculations show

REUTERS
Published :
Mar 25, 2026 23:09
Updated :
Mar 25, 2026 23:09

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At least 40 per cent of Russia's oil export capacity is at a halt following Ukrainian drone attacks, a disputed attack on a major pipeline and the seizure of tankers, according to Reuters calculations based on market data.

The shutdown is the most severe oil supply disruption in the modern history of Russia, the world's second largest oil exporter, and has hit Moscow just as oil prices exceeded $100 a barrel due to the Iran war.

Russia's oil output is one of the main sources of revenue for the national budget and is central to the $2.6 trillion economy.

UKRAINE HAS INCREASED ATTACKS

Ukraine intensified drone attacks on Russia's oil and fuel export infrastructure this month, hitting all three of Russia's major western oil export ports, including Novorossiysk on the Black Sea and Primorsk and Ust-Luga on the Baltic Sea.

According to Reuters calculations, about 40 per cent of Russia's crude oil export capabilities - or around 2 million barrels per day, were shut as of Wednesday after the most recent attack.

That includes Primorsk and Ust-Luga as well as the Druzhba pipeline, which runs through Ukraine to Hungary and Slovakia.

Kyiv has also targeted pipeline oil pumping stations and refineries. Kyiv says it aims to diminish Moscow's oil and gas revenue, which accounts for around a quarter of Russia's state budget proceeds, and weaken its military might.

Russia says the Ukrainian strikes are terrorist attacks and has tightened security across its 11 time zones.

PORTS, PIPELINES AND TANKERS

Ukraine said that part of the Druzhba pipeline was damaged by Russian strikes at the end of January, while both Slovakia and Hungary demanded Kyiv restart the supplies immediately.

The Novorossiysk oil terminal, which can handle up to 700,000 bpd, has been loading oil below plan since damage from a heavy Ukrainian drone attack early this month.

In addition, frequent seizures of Russia-related tankers in Europe have disrupted 300,000 bpd of Arctic oil exports flowing from the port of Murmansk, traders said.

With its westward export routes under fire, Moscow must rely on oil exports to Asian markets, but those routes are limited due to capacity, traders said.

Russia continues uninterrupted supplies via pipelines to China, including the Skovorodino-Mohe and Atasu-Alashankou routes, as well as ESPO Blend exports by sea via the port of Kozmino.

Together, the three routes account for some 1.9 million bpd of oil.

Russia also continues to load oil from its two far eastern Sakhalin projects, shipping about 250,000 bpd from the island.

Traders also say that Russia is supplying the refineries in neighbouring Belarus with around 300,000 bpd of oil.​
 
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Ukraine hits major Russian port in 400-drone barrage
Agence France-Presse . Moscow, Russia 26 March, 2026, 02:48

Russia on Wednesday said a Ukrainian attack sparked a fire at a major port in the country’s northwest in a barrage of almost 400 drones, launched a day after a record Russian aerial assault on Ukraine.

A power plant in Estonia was also hit by a drone that had flown into the NATO member from Russian airspace, while another crashed into Latvian territory, with officials in Riga saying that it was likely a Ukrainian drone gone astray.

The attack came after Russia fired nearly 1,000 drones at Ukraine over a 24-hour period starting late Monday, killing a total of eight people across the country, hitting the historic centre of Lviv and residential houses in western Ukraine during Tuesday evening rush hour.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky slammed what he called Russia’s ‘absolute depravity’ and vowed a response to the pummelling.

Russia’s defence ministry said Wednesday that its air defence systems had intercepted and destroyed 389 Ukrainian drones overnight, mostly in regions that border Ukraine as well as around Moscow.

The attack triggered a fire at the Baltic port of Ust-Luga, an oil exporting hub on the Gulf of Finland, close to Russia’s border with Estonia.

The blaze was ‘being brought under control’ regional governor Alexander Drozdenko said on social media, adding that no casualties had been reported.

Drozdenko did not specify which part of the port had been hit. The facility is a major hub for Russian fertilisers, oil and coal exports.

There was no comment from Ukraine’s military on the attack.

Earlier this week Ukraine hit another of Russia’s major Baltic Sea port — Primorsk — triggering a large fire that poured thick black smoke into the air, visible from satellite images.

A Ukrainian rocket attack also dealt ‘serious damage’ to electricity and water facilities in the Russian border region of Belgorod, governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.

Ukraine has been intensifying its retaliatory attacks on Russia’s infrastructure — including refineries, oil depots and ports — in past weeks, calling it fair retribution and an attempt to cut Russia’s energy proceeds that fund its war effort.

EU and NATO member Estonia said on Wednesday a drone coming from Russian airspace hit a chimney of the Auvere power plant, near the town of Narva on the Russian border, causing no injuries.

‘These are the effects of Russia’s large-scale war of aggression,’ said Estonia’s Internal Security Service Director General Margo Palloson, expressing concern about ‘the occurrence of such incidents in the future’.

Neighbouring Latvia also said a drone had entered its airspace ‘from Russia’, but that no damage or casualties were reported.

According to the preliminary information, Latvian prime minister Evika Silina said the drone was likely Ukrainian.

The escalation in strikes comes as US-brokered talks between Moscow and Kyiv appear to have stalled amid the war in the Middle East.

Ukraine sent a delegation to the United States last weekend in a bid to revive the negotiation process, but the effort yielded no immediate result.

‘Unfortunately, there is no real progress as yet,’ Zelensky said on Tuesday after meeting with his negotiating team back from the talks.

‘Russia does not want to move towards peace,’ he added.​
 
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