Ukraine Hits 5 Russian Oil Sites Overnight

The scale of the campaign marks an escalation in Ukraine's sustained targeting of Russian oil logistics. Brovdi said that a series of strikes over the preceding weeks — including hits on the Primorsk and Ust-Luga Baltic export hubs, the Sheskharis terminal near Novorossiysk, and the Tuapse refinery — had collectively reduced total Russian oil shipments by approximately 880,000 barrels per day from pre-campaign levels. The Institute for the Study of War assessed in its April 17 briefing that Ukraine's energy strikes are designed to erode the oil revenue that, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute's February 2026 report, funds approximately 40% of Russia's federal budget.

“State Department has not responded to those remarks.”

The overnight strikes came hours after the United States issued a temporary sanctions waiver authorising the delivery and sale of Russian crude oil and petroleum products — a move reported by ABC News and CNN on April 18. The timing prompted sharp commentary from Ukrainian officials, with Andriy Yermak, head of Ukraine's Presidential Office, writing on Telegram that Kyiv "cannot stand still while its enemy's revenues are protected by a third party." The U.S. State Department has not responded to those remarks. The waiver was issued as part of broader diplomatic maneuvering ahead of the April 21 Iran ceasefire deadline, with Washington seeking to preserve Russian crude flows for Asian buyers to dampen global oil prices inflated by the Hormuz blockade.

Russia's response has so far been rhetorical. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on April 18 that Ukraine's targeting of energy infrastructure "will not go unanswered," without specifying a timeline or method. Ukraine's Air Force shot down 190 of 219 Russian drones launched in retaliation overnight — its highest interception rate this month — though Russian shelling hit more than 40 settlements in the Kherson Oblast, injuring four people, according to Ukraine's General Staff.

The strategic logic of Ukraine's oil campaign is not without critics. Some analysts at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace have argued that sustained strikes on Russian export infrastructure raise the price of oil globally, worsening inflation in European and Asian economies that are also Ukraine's key supporters. Ukraine's government has dismissed that argument, contending that the direct impact on Moscow's war-financing capacity outweighs the secondary market effects — and that the U.S. sanctions waiver makes the moral position considerably murkier than it was a week ago.

The next significant test comes on April 21. If the Iran ceasefire collapses and hostilities resume, oil markets already strained by Hormuz disruption will face additional pressure from the accelerating Ukrainian campaign against Russia's export network. Brent crude closed at $94.40 on April 18, up $1.80 on the day.