Region Producing 40% of Russia’s Oil Prepares for Ukrainian Drone Strikes for First Time

Authorities in Russia’s Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, a sprawling oil-producing region responsible for roughly 40% of the country’s crude output, are preparing for the possibility of Ukrainian drone strikes despite the region being about 2,200 kilometers, or 1,370 miles, from the Ukrainian border.

The regional social development department has proposed formally adding drone attacks to the list of circumstances classified as “extreme life situations,” independent Russian outlet Verstka reported on September 7 after reviewing proposed amendments to local legislation.

The designation applies to emergencies in which residents “urgently require immediate assistance of various kinds” and cannot cope with the situation even after “using all available opportunities and resources.”

Natural disasters, industrial explosions and the loss of basic means of subsistence are already covered by the category.

If the amendments are approved, residents affected by future drone strikes would become eligible for emergency government assistance, including hot meals, monthly food packages, clothing, footwear and other support.

The preparations are notable because neither cities nor industrial facilities in Khanty-Mansi have yet been directly hit by Ukrainian drones.

Warning signs, however, have begun appearing.

The region declared a missile alert for the first time on May 5, while drone-threat warnings have been issued repeatedly since late June.

The closest major facility to Khanty-Mansi known to have been targeted by Ukrainian forces is the Tyumen oil refinery, located roughly 200 kilometers, or 125 miles, from the regional boundary. The refinery was struck by a drone on July 25.

Khanty-Mansi itself remains far deeper inside Russia, but Ukraine’s expanding long-range drone campaign has steadily pushed the perceived threat farther from the border.

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The region’s importance to Russia makes that particularly significant. Khanty-Mansi is the center of the country’s oil-producing industry and supplies an enormous share of the crude underpinning Russia’s energy exports and state revenues.

The region has already felt the indirect effects of Ukrainian strikes.

Previously, a fuel crisis triggered in part by repeated attacks on Russian oil refineries has reached Khanty-Mansi despite its own enormous crude production, highlighting the distinction between extracting oil and having sufficient refinery capacity to turn it into gasoline and other fuels.

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