Kyiv Drones Force Shutdown of Moscow Oil Refinery Euro+ Unit

The Moscow Oil Refinery of Gazprom Neft was forced to stop operation of its combined Euro+ oil processing unit following a recent Ukrainian drone attack, Reuters reports.

According to the publication’s sources, the refinery may resume processing oil at the Euro+ unit after repairs, which are expected to take around five to six days.

The Euro+ unit accounts for approximately 50 percent of the refinery’s total primary oil processing capacity, as its CDU-6 crude distillation unit has an annual capacity of 6 million metric tons.

The Euro+ complex also includes a reforming unit with a capacity of 1 million tons per year and a diesel hydrotreating unit with a capacity of 2 million tons per year.

The Moscow Oil Refinery, owned by Russian gas giant Gazprom, was hit in a recent drone attack on Sept. 1, during which Ukraine also targeted Russian electrical power plants.

Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin stated that several drones targeted the Moscow Oil Refinery, causing a fire in a “separate technical facility” of the refinery. Later, the state news agency TASS, citing emergency services, reported that the fire had been contained.

A Russian official noted that there were reportedly no damages or casualties, and no threat to the refinery’s operations. However, the Telegram channel Astra reported that residents observed a “flare” burning at the refinery.

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According to Reuters, in 2023, the Moscow Oil Refinery processed 11.6 million tons of crude oil, producing 2.6 million tons of gasoline, 3.3 million tons of gasoil, 2.3 million tons of fuel oil, and 0.9 million tons of jet fuel.

According to a statement from the Russian Ministry of Defense, Russia experienced its largest drone attack since the start of its full-scale invasion on Sunday, Sept. 1, with 158 Ukrainian drones targeting several regions.

A local official in the Moscow region reported that three drones attempted to strike the Kashira coal-fired power plant.

“There were no victims nor damages,” during the weekend attack, he said, adding that electricity was still reaching clients “correctly.”

However, the footage filmed by residents suggests that the drone attack caused explosions and fire at the power plant.

Russian news agencies also reported a fire at the Moscow oil refinery in Kapotnya; videos from the site also suggested a drone strike on the oil depot. Despite this, Mayor Sobyanin said there was “no damage or casualties.”

Later, footage surfaced online showing a helicopter assisting in extinguishing a fire at the refinery. The fire had reportedly been classified as a level 5 incident, indicating the highest level of difficulty.