Ukraine has carried out almost 160 successful attacks on Russian oil extraction and processing facilities this year, the head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), General Vasyl Malyuk, told reporters today.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky estimated on Monday that Russia had lost more than 20 percent of its oil refining capacity due to the attacks.
The Ukrainian attacks have led to a rise in the prices of oil derivatives in Russia.
Malyuk also said that Ukrainian forces destroyed a Russian medium-range ballistic missile "Oreshnik" in an attack more than a year ago at the Kapustin Yar launch site in the Astrakhan region, in southwestern Russia.
AFP was unable to independently confirm this information.
An SBU spokesman told AFP that the missile was destroyed "in the hangar" on the night of July 8-9, 2024, when it was "almost ready" for launch.
At the time, Russian media reported drone attacks in the area, with local authorities claiming that more than 20 had been shot down.
In August, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow had begun mass production of the "Orešnik," a next-generation hypersonic weapon capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.
In November 2024, Russia used this weapon for the first time, but without a nuclear warhead, hitting a military factory in the city of Dnipro, in central Ukraine.
Bonus video:
