Since the beginning of the full-scale war, Washington has not supported or encouraged Ukraine in its strikes on Russian territory.
This was stated by the spokesman of the State Department, Matthew Miller, in response to a journalistʼs question about the fact that information appeared in the media about the request of the United States to stop attacks on Russian oil refineries.
"Iʼm not going to talk about specific conversations, but itʼs our long-standing policy that weʼve made clear to the Ukrainian government, so itʼs not something they donʼt know about," Miller added.
The Financial Times was one of the first media outlets to write about the US demands, which, citing sources, stated: the US urges Ukraine not to attack Russian energy infrastructure, as this could raise global oil prices and provoke attacks on Ukrainian energy in response.
Attacks on Russian refineries
On March 17 , another oil refinery caught fire in Russia as a result of a drone attack. This is the second time that a Russian oil facility has been hit by an unmanned aerial vehicle, due to which oil processing in Russia is reduced. Earlier in Russian Ryazan, another oil refinery caught fire after a drone attack. And before that, drones attacked a refinery in the Nizhny Novgorod region and an oil depot in Oryol. At the same time, the oil refinery of the Lukoil company in the Nizhny Novgorod region lost part of its capacity due to the attack.
There were also attacks on the oil depot in Klyntsy, Bryansk region, the Rosneft refinery in Tuapse, the oil terminal in Ust-Luz, and the Slavnafta-YANOS refinery in Yaroslavl. Also, on February 3 , drones attacked Volgograd Lukoil. Against this background, the exchange prices for gasoline AI-92 and AI-95, as well as for summer diesel fuel, have increased by 8-23% since the beginning of the year.
However, Russia still remains one of the worldʼs largest energy exporters, even despite Western sanctions imposed on its oil and gas sector. At the end of last year, it was reported that Russiaʼs monthly income from oil exports is now greater than it was before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In October 2023, net income from Russian oil reached $11.3 billion, which is 31% of the total income of the Russian budget for the month. This is a record figure since May 2022.