Ukraine's repeated drone strikes on Russian energy infrastructure in April, including a fourth attack on Tuapse within a month, pushed Russian refining runs down to their lowest level since 2009, The Moscow Times reported on May 1. This has prompted Moscow to impose a tighter framework for managing domestic fuel production and deliveries, although monthly Russian crude exports from key western ports remained broadly steady.

Ukraine has improved its ability to strike deep into Russian territory and hit several energy nodes in close succession, which has increased strain on refineries, ports and pipeline infrastructure. At the same time, crude exports have remained more resilient than refining, indicating that Russia still has redundancies in its oil system even as it adopts a more Soviet-style administrative response to protect domestic fuel supply.