Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday that Ukrainian forces had struck an oil facility in Russia’s Samara region overnight. In a social media post reported by Ukrainian News (opens in new tab) and DW (opens in new tab), he said they had also hit a target in the Black Sea, a launch and storage site for attack drones in Oryol region and a supply depot in Bryansk region. DW (opens in new tab)’s Russian-language report quoted him as saying that “sanctions” had been applied to the oil facility. Zelenskyy did not identify the Black Sea target. The Guardian (opens in new tab) described it as a Russian vessel.
In the statements reported by the Guardian (opens in new tab), DW (opens in new tab) and Ukrainian News (opens in new tab), Zelenskyy did not name the Samara facility or describe any damage or casualties there. DW (opens in new tab) reported that Rosneft’s Kuibyshev refinery in Samara had been attacked repeatedly in September.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defenses had destroyed 330 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones between 8 p.m. Sept. 30 and 8 a.m. Oct. 1 Moscow time, TASS (opens in new tab) reported. The ministry listed 12 regions plus Crimea and the Black Sea, and Samara was not among them. TASS (opens in new tab) reported that a teenager was injured in Bryansk region, a bus driver was hurt in a separate drone attack in that region, and parts of Crimea lost power. Samara Gov. Vyacheslav Fedorishchev said Thursday afternoon that air defenses were repelling a drone attack on the region and had destroyed several drones, RT (opens in new tab) reported. In that statement, as RT (opens in new tab) reported it, he did not mention damage, casualties or an oil facility.
The overnight strikes came a day after President Donald Trump again linked Ukraine’s campaign against Russian refineries to high U.S. diesel prices. “Diesel is really hurt much more, not by the Middle East, but by what's going on in Russia, because those diesel refineries are being knocked out at a pretty alarming rate,” Trump said Wednesday, according to the Guardian (opens in new tab). The Kyiv Post (opens in new tab) quoted him as saying: “And if that didn't happen, we wouldn't have a diesel problem. What's happened in Russia with Ukraine has been really the biggest problem for diesel.” Asked about a U.S. diesel export ban, Trump said, “I'm thinking about it,” hromadske (opens in new tab) reported.
Others point to different causes. The Guardian (opens in new tab) reported that energy analysts see the war in Iran and wider disruption to global oil markets as the main drivers of fuel prices. Energy Secretary Chris Wright listed several supply losses, according to the Kyiv Post (opens in new tab): “We've lost some diesel exports from the Middle East, although we're restoring those, and we've lost diesel exports from China.” Citing AAA data reported by Reuters, the Kyiv Post (opens in new tab) said diesel reached $6.53 a gallon a week ago and that gasoline prices are up more than 40% over the past year. Hromadske (opens in new tab), also citing Reuters, attributed the roughly 40% annual rise to diesel itself.
Ukrainian estimates say the campaign has knocked out more than 45% of Russia’s oil refining capacity, according to the Guardian (opens in new tab), which also reported that Russia has extended its ban on diesel exports to the end of October. “There is no rationale for Ukraine to continue exercising restraint while it is being bombarded and major urban areas are under constant attack,” Mykola Bielieskov, a military analyst at Ukraine’s government-run National Institute for Strategic Studies, told the Guardian (opens in new tab). In August, Russian President Vladimir Putin played down the strikes. He said the attacks had not changed the course of the war, according to the Kyiv Post (opens in new tab).
This article will be updated as officials on either side release more information about the Samara strike.