Despite Ukrainian drone strikes, Russia’s oil refining volumes in 2025 fell by only 3%, Reuters reports, citing industry sources. According to them, Russian refineries were able to tap spare capacity and thus avoid a major drop in output, offsetting the impact of the attacks.
Reuters’ calculations show that in 2025 Ukrainian drones hit major Russian refineries at least 17 times. This forced Moscow to cut fuel exports and strengthen the protection of such facilities. The most intense strikes occurred in the first months of the year, then picked up again in August.
During the second wave of strikes, from August to October, around 20% of Russia’s refining capacity was temporarily offline due to attacks and planned maintenance. During this period, total refining volumes fell by 6%, to roughly 5.1 million barrels per day—about 300,000 barrels per day lower than in the same period last year, according to data provided by the sources.
From January to October, Russia processed around 220 million tonnes of crude, or about 5.2 million barrels per day—3% below the 2024 level.
According to Reuters’ sources, Russia’s total refinery capacity stands at 6.6 million barrels per day, but plants rarely operate at full throttle. They said refineries were able to limit the damage by activating backup equipment at both affected and intact facilities, and by rapidly bringing damaged units back online after repairs.