The raids have somewhat throttled Russian gasoline production, but probably not enough to have an immediate impact on the economy—and thus on the long-term war effort. “These are spot strikes,” energy expert Hennadii Rіabtsev

I read that they had lost almost 20% of their refining capacity already, which sounds very significant to me.

[–] tal@lemmy.today 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

There may be two factors there.

First, I think that the text is talking about those converted ultralight planes, not all long-range strikes. You had smaller drones; these were probably Ukrainian special forces operating behind enemy lines.

Second, I think I saw a similar quote, and IIRC, in the text I read, it wasn't "20% of capacity", but "strikes against refineries that comprise 20% of capacity". The strikes didn't necessarily shut a given refinery down fully.

[–] realitista@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago

Good point. It's a bit unlcear. This is from a month ago and I know it edged up since then:

"In terms of damage, the strikes have probably disrupted more than 10% of Russia's refinery capacity, maybe more than 15%. Depending on the extent of the damage, repairs could take considerable time," the official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

[–] humbletightband@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 1 year ago

Even if it's true, there's a huge capacity of oil refinery in Belarus which Ukraine doesn't want to target for obvious reasons