Russia Weekly Brief:
Week 32: 03 August 2026 - Four Wildberries & six oil refineries hit by Ukrainian drones, but who is counting? Astana in talks with Moscow to process Russian crude and ship back petrol and diesel.
The Russia Weekly Business Brief is a collection of the most important events reported last week by select open-source media platforms and governments in Eurasia.
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Takeaways from the Week
Drone Wars – Ukraine executed a major “Long-Range Sanctions” week, striking oil refineries as far east as Omsk.
BlackUkrainian Sea – Ukrainian drones sank a Rosatom/FESCO container, Yanina, near Novorossiysk.Wildberries War – four Wildberries logistics and warehouse facilities were disabled last week, marking 17 facilities impaired or destroyed over the past six weeks.
Moscow Bomb – An explosion occurred at the high-end Balzi Rossi restaurant on Kudrinskaya Square on Saturday. Moscow Mayor Sobyanin labeled it a terrorist act.
Russian Dissidents – Moscow’s Zamoskvoretsky District Court ordered the pre-trial arrest in absentia of Zhanna Nemtsova — daughter of murdered opposition leader Boris Nemtsov — on charges of running an “undesirable” organization.
Kazakhstan Tolling – Astana is in talks with Moscow to process Russian crude and supply the refined petrol and diesel back to Russia.
ENERGY & COMMODITIES
Ukraine Struck Six Oil Refineries Last Week [High]
Over the weekend, Ukrainian drones struck the Bashneft-UNPZ, Bashneft-Novoil, and Bashneft-Ufaneftekhim refineries in Ufa, Bashkortostan, with a combined processing capacity exceeding 23 million tonnes of crude annually. According to the Astra Telegram channel, the Bashneft-UNPZ complex was struck two consecutive nights, disrupting civilian air traffic.
During the course of last week, Ukrainian drones struck:
