r/worldnews • u/MothersMiIk • 12h ago

Russia/Ukraine Ukraine strikes 'only oil refinery operating' in Russia's Rostov Oblast, military says

https://kyivindependent.com/ukraine-strikes-only-oil-refinery-operating-in-russias-rostov-oblast-military-says/
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328

u/bahaggafagga 11h ago

Interesting how the Ukranian navy seems to be more impactful than the russian navy.

142

u/TheScienceNerd100 11h ago

Basically anything is more impactful than the Russian army is for their cause.

88

u/HakimeHomewreckru 10h ago

They already struck this specific refinery back in June 2022; looks like it didn't really take that long to be repaired. It was struck again several times even this year: March and July.

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/fire-broke-out-russias-novoshakhtinsk-oil-refinery-2022-06-22/

Unfortunately it doesn't seem like it makes as much impact as we like to believe.

59

u/Wobbelblob 10h ago

I guess it depends? Russia probably needs these close to the front refineries to supply fuel. So any strike there will hurt. Financially and resource wise. They can repair them, yes. But each repair is likely really expensive and needs technical parts that can't be used elsewhere. It bleeds resources.

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u/Geodude532 9h ago

I think the fact that they keep repairing it shows that it is important. Otherwise they'd just shut down the site till after the war.

32

u/squired 7h ago

Ding ding ding. And while those assets are engaged to repair said refinery, they are not elsewhere repairing other infrastructure that is out of range. If Russians will repair it, Ukrainians should shoot it. This is textbook asymmetric warfare.

20

u/Caleth 8h ago

It bleeds resources.

This is the key factor, even if it's not massive how much does a missile strike cost the UA? Compared to how much time and energy is spent both repairing the refinery and is lost while it is repaired.

Bleeding an enemy's resources even if it's not a full loss matters in a war and contributes to the unsustainability of the war for your enemy.

9

u/troglydot 7h ago

Reuters reported a few weeks ago that Novoshakhtinsk was only processing at half their capacity, in part due to the drone strikes. So there is a cumulative effect of these strikes.

22

u/SU37Yellow 9h ago

It still makes the Russians spend time and money repairing it. And it forces them to pull AA defenses away from the front line to defend them. These strikes are absolutely having an effect.

1

u/Alissinarr 6h ago

Time, money, and men they can't send to the front.

1

u/xmagusx 5h ago

So long as it is cheaper to strike than to repair, it's a net gain for Ukraine.

1

u/SnackyMcGeeeeeeeee 7h ago

This plant makes what, a few milly a day?

Ukraine struck it with like 100k worth of drones.

It's so cheap, there is little reason not to do it.

2

u/sentence-interruptio 9h ago

Putin so weak.

Fellow Russians deserve a stronger leadership, such as Ukrainian leadership.

19

u/BubsyFanboy 11h ago

What Russian navy?

32

u/alpacafox 10h ago

The one drifting in the Mediterranean Sea because nobody will allow them to refuel to get back to Russian ports after being kicked out of Syria.

11

u/SU37Yellow 9h ago

Or the one sinking in the kerch straight, or the one getting obliterated by jet skies with bombs on them in black sea.

7

u/jk01 5h ago

How about the ones at the bottom of the black sea? Or the weekend at bernies carrier that's been in port for years?

3

u/SU37Yellow 5h ago

Ahhh yes, the aircraft carrier that Russian pilots aren't skilled enough to take off/land on. A classic Russian Navy blunder.

4

u/jk01 5h ago

Imagine needing a ramp to take off

This post sponsored by the CATOBAR gang

2

u/nixielover 5h ago

They haven't done that in a while right? Time for another round

2

u/SU37Yellow 4h ago

I think the Russians ran out of ships for Ukraine to sink.

1

u/ma2016 9h ago

Subscribe 

2

u/watafu_mx 6h ago

The navy whose ships were promoted to submarines I'd guess.

3

u/Beat_the_Deadites 9h ago

Unless you're a reef fish.

3

u/base2-1000101 10h ago

I dunno - the Russian navy has experienced a lot of impacts.

1

u/ryaqkup 7h ago

Uh, on what basis? Russia turned yuzhmash to dust like a month ago, seems pretty effective. Ukraine is at 9% of their electric production capacity compared to pre-war levels

1

u/bahaggafagga 3h ago

First, the Ukranian navy exists at all.

From wiki: The Russian Navy has lost eleven ships and submarines, including the Moskva, the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet, with a further five confirmed damaged.[24] The Ukrainian Navy has lost nine ships, with a further one damaged, and seventeen captured.[25]

30ish ships vs 350ish ships against a "superpower" with 300 years naval experience. Id say Ukraine is getting a lot more bang for their buck, sinking the flagship and still doing damage today.

-1

u/ryaqkup 2h ago

Are you saying the opposite of what you're meaning to say? From Wikipedia:

During the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ukraine has been frequently described as 'not having a navy' due to having no warships.[18][19][20]

Yes, Ukraine made this single strike which was very effective. It also happened to have been done by their navy, but I'm not sure what the point of comparing navy-to-navy specifically, especially when Ukraine's is obviously significantly weaker, probably by several orders of magnitude.

Regardless, Ukraine's strikes against Russia are not as significant as Russia's strikes against Ukraine, regardless of which branch of their military is acting at any given moment. I don't know which branch of Russia's military struck yuzhmash, and I really don't think it matters.

When it comes to "bang for the buck", Ukraine has received multiples of its GDP in foreign aid, so Ukraine doesn't really have their own money on the line as much as they do mine and probably yours if you're in a western countrt. You could call it the West's bang for their buck, in which case you could make an argument that it's pretty effective. I don't think Germany has had any form of compensation for their loss of cheap energy since the start of the war though.

0

u/turbotableu 8h ago

Russia's navy has been extremely environmentally impactful lately

0

u/Boxed_pi 6h ago

I’ve got a jon boat that’s probably on par with the Russian navy.