One of the largest refineries in southern Russia has been shut down after a drone strike.

The Novoshakhtinsk Oil Refinery has suspended operations due to equipment damage in a drone attack on December 25, Reuters reported, citing two industry sources.

Both primary oil refining units at the refinery, which has a capacity of 5 million tons per year and is located in the Rostov Region and is one of the largest in southern Russia, have been shut down, the sources said.

The Novoshakhtinsk Refinery is the sixth refinery to be hit by a drone strike in December and the second to shut down. On December 15, drone strikes shut down the Slavneft-Yaroslavnefteorgsintez (YANOS), located 250 kilometers from Moscow and one of the five largest refineries in the country.

In November, Ukrainian armed forces used drones to strike oil refineries at least 14 times, breaking the record set in August, when 12 refineries were hit. At least three of them halted fuel production, including Rosneft's Ryazan refinery, which is Russia's third-largest by capacity and supplies the Moscow region.

Last year, drone attacks caused oil refining volumes in Russia to fall to a 12-year low of 266 million tonnes. A source familiar with industry statistics told Reuters they will remain at roughly the same level by the end of this year. According to the agency's calculations, refinery output fell by 3% from January to October, to 5.2 million barrels per day.

source: The Moscow Times https://archive.is/uLkGP