In April, Ukrainian deep strikes hit 14 refineries and terminals, two plants, as well as Russian ships and aircraft.
According to the Defense Ministry’s press service, targets were hit from temporarily occupied Crimea to Perm, Ufa, Orsk and Chelyabinsk — the Urals, which has historically been considered Russia’s deep rear.
Russia’s oil refining sector and fuel logistics facilities
During the April campaign, Ukraine’s Defense Forces struck at least 14 such facilities — from refineries in the Volga region and the Urals to port terminals in the Baltic and Black seas.
- Bashneft-Novoil refinery, Ufa (Bashkortostan). A strike on the plant was confirmed, followed by a fire. The strike range was about 1,400 kilometers from the border.
- Lukoil-Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez refinery in Kstovo (Nizhny Novgorod Region) was on fire. The strike sparked a major blaze. Primary oil processing units AVT-6 and AVT-1 were damaged, as well as unit 19/6 used in the production of petroleum bitumen. The AVT-2 process unit and the LCh-24-7 diesel fuel hydrotreating unit were put out of action.
- Tuapse refinery was struck on April 16, 20 and 28 — the highest number of hits among all targets that month. In the first strike, the AVT-12 primary processing unit and RVS-10000 tanks were damaged, with ignition. After the repeat strike, the destruction of 24 tanks and damage to four more were confirmed. After the third strike, a fire broke out again.
- To hit the Novokuibyshevsk refinery, the Defense Forces carried out a strike at a range of about 1,000 km. Explosions were heard at the strategic facility, which has a capacity of 8.8 million tons per year, followed by a fire.
- Syzran refinery was hit as part of a coordinated mass attack. A fire broke out at the facility.
- A strike on the Yaroslavl refinery caused a fire. Damage to the vacuum distillation unit was confirmed.
- After a hit on the Orsknefteorgsintez refinery, a fire broke out at the facility.
- The strike on the Lukoil-Permnefteorgsintez refinery was carried out by drones of the SBU’s Alpha Special Operations Center.
- Damage to the Lukoil-Permnefteorgsintez refinery: the AVT-4 unit — a key node of primary oil processing — was hit. The vacuum and atmospheric distillation columns caught fire, effectively taking the unit out of service. The Perm line production and dispatch station, which supplies crude oil to the same refinery, was also hit again.
Port terminals and transport infrastructure
- Primorsk port, Leningrad Region. A fire and damage to three RVSP-20000 tanks with a total volume of 60,000 m³ were confirmed;
- Ust-Luga Oil terminal, Leningrad Region. Damage to three Transneft-Baltika tanks was confirmed;
- RPK-Vysotsk Lukoil-2 oil loading terminal, Leningrad Region. A fire was confirmed;
- Tikhoretsk oil pumping station (Krasnodar Krai), a fire was confirmed;
- Sheskharis oil terminal, Novorossiysk — a major fire at a key transshipment hub for Black Sea oil.
- Oil depots in Feodosia and Hvardiiske, as well as oil pumping stations in Crimea and Krasnodar Krai, were hit as elements of tactical fuel and lubricants supply for Russian groupings.
On April 10, the Defense Forces struck offshore oil production infrastructure in the open sea for the first time. Ice-resistant fixed platforms LSP-2 at the Graifer field and LSP-1 at the Korchagin field were damaged. The facilities are located about 1,000 kilometers from the line of contact.
On April 29, a unit of the Ukrainian Navy struck the sanctioned vessel “MARQUISE” in the Black Sea — 210 kilometers from Tuapse. Two maritime kamikaze drones hit the stern area near the propeller-rudder group and the engine room.
The tanker (capacity over 37,000 tons, Cameroon flag) is under sanctions by Ukraine, the EU, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, New Zealand and Canada and was used for the illegal transport of petroleum products as part of the “shadow fleet.”
Strikes on Russia’s military-industrial complex
In April, the Defense Forces struck two plants on the aggressor’s territory:
- Strela plant, Suzemka (Bryansk Region)
- The facility was hit on April 1. It produces components for cruise missiles, has fulfilled more than 120 state contracts for the needs of Russia’s defense industry, and is under Ukrainian sanctions.
- On April 19, the Ukrainian Navy carried out a precision strike with Neptune missiles on a production building of Atlant Aero.
The Black Sea Fleet and maritime security forces under attack
- On April 19, the large landing ships “Yamal” and “Nikolai Filchenkov” in Sevastopol were put out of action. Strikes on the same ships were repeated on April 20 and 26 by SBU forces.
- On April 5, two strike UAVs hit the Project 11356R frigate “Burevestnik” — a carrier of Kalibr cruise missiles. The extent of the damage was being clarified.
- On April 26, as part of the SBU’s Alpha operation, a signals intelligence ship, a Black Sea Fleet training center, and the air defense forces’ signals intelligence headquarters were hit simultaneously.
- A MiG-31 at the “Belbek” airfield (a potential carrier of the hypersonic Kinzhal) and the airfield’s technical and maintenance facilities were also hit.
- On April 22, damage to the conning tower of an FSB Border Service ship in Sevastopol was confirmed.
- On April 30, the Ukrainian Navy destroyed the FSB “Sobol” patrol boat and the “Grachonok” anti-saboteur boat in the Kerch Strait area. The enemy suffered irrecoverable and sanitary losses.
- On April 25, at Shagol airfield in Russia’s Chelyabinsk Region, the AFU Unmanned Systems Forces hit two Su-57 fighters, one Su-34 fighter-bomber, and another aircraft of an unidentified modification. This was one of the most distant operations by Ukrainian deep-strike assets — the targets were about 1,700 km from Ukraine’s state border.