On Sunday, Ukraine's military reported another round of long-range strikes on Russian oil platforms in the Caspian Sea, the latest in a series of attacks on vulnerable energy infrastructure.
According to Ukraine's General Staff, the drone strikes hit the V. Filanovsky, Yuri Korchagin and Valery Graifer platforms, all belonging to sanctioned Russian oil major Lukoil. In a statement, the general staff said that the strikes had resulted in direct hits, and that damage assessment was ongoing.
Ukraine's Special Operations Forces (SSO) claimed responsibility for the attack, and said that Lukoil's operations are providing fuel to the Russian military. "Ukrainian SOF continue to conduct asymmetric actions aimed at strategically exhausting the enemy’s ability to wage war against Ukraine," the SSO said.
Ukraine's military forces previously hit Russian oil platforms in the Caspian multiple times in December, hitting the Filanovsky field and the Grayfer field.
Russia's oil and gas facilities are high-priority targets for Ukraine, since energy exports are key to funding Russia's ongoing invasion. Ukraine's drone forces have repeatedly hit Russian refineries, pipelines, oil platforms, marine loading terminals, ports and tankers, all in an attempt to reduce Russia's petroleum revenues.
In return, the Russian military has attacked Ukraine's electrical grid, heating plants, gas storage and distribution system, seaports and its merchant bulker traffic, which the Ukrainian agricultural economy relies upon for food exports.
Source: maritime-executive.com
