Ukrainian drones struck Rosneft’s Novokuybyshevsk oil refinery in Russia’s Samara region early Oct 30, setting the 8.8 million ton a year facility ablaze and ending a two week pause in refinery attacks. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Ukrainian strikes resumed overnight against three oil refineries and one chemical plant, causing minor damage at one facility, while the Kremlin accused Kyiv of ignoring President Donald Trump’s request to halt attacks on Russian refiners.
The strike came hours after the Wall Street Journal reported that Ukraine had unofficially paused refinery attacks in mid October under pressure from the Trump administration, with the hiatus expected to last past the Nov 3 US midterm elections. During an Oct 20 meeting in Oslo, US envoy Jared Kushner told President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that a 30 day pause on refineries would be a way to show gratitude for the time, energy and jet fuel he and envoy Steve Witkoff were spending mediating with Moscow. While redirected Ukrainian drones struck Russia’s Novolipetsk steel plant and the Azot chemical plant in Tula earlier in the week, Zelenskyy sought Russian halts to power grid strikes or Patriot air defense systems in return and continued facing Russian missile attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure.