On the night of December 19, the Novoshakhtinsk Oil Refinery in the Rostov region was effectively attacked by the Defense Forces of Ukraine. According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the attack was carried out by the Ukrainian Navy and the Security Service of Ukraine, in cooperation with other components of the Defense Forces.
The mention of the Navy's involvement is a typical hint that the Neptune missiles, which have long been capable of hitting ground targets, were used in the strike. It is worth noting that this combination of drones and missiles enables several attack scenarios.
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For instance, drones can be used to overwhelm Russian air defense, forcing the enemy to use its missiles on the drones, which would then allow the missiles to break through. It is also possible to weaken the Russian air defense system with missiles, creating a "corridor" through which drones can pass. It is worth recalling that in August, Neptune missile destroyed an S-300 SAM system near Novoshakhtinsk.
Anyway, the attack, which was not repelled by russians, damaged critical areas of the enterprise, including its main component - the crude oil distillation unit.
It should be noted that this enterprise is formally located only 8 kilometers from the border with Ukraine, but 160 kilometers from the current front line. This refinery is crucial to the russian army in terms of supplying fuel and lubricants.
This is not the first attack on this refinery. Moreover, it was the first refinery to be effectively attacked by drones on June 22, 2022. After that, the attacks on this refinery intensified in 2024, and on June 6, this refinery was effectively hit again. This is the fourth attack on this refinery in the last six months.
All this suggests that the refinery can only be shut down completely through methodical attacks. Immediately after the attacks, russians began repair work and tried to resume production. They are spending resources on this, and it seems that as soon as russians resume operations at the refinery, it will receive another wave of not only drones but also missiles.
Earlier, Defense Express reported on the reasons why the strikes on the Kamensky Combine in the Rostov region were justified with the use of ATACMS and Storm Shadow missiles.
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