June 24 (Reuters) - Moscow's oil refinery will be offline for at least six months after suffering extensive damage in Ukrainian drone attacks, two industry sources said on Wednesday, ​complicating Russian efforts to tackle fuel shortages across the world's ​largest country.

The refinery, located on the southern outskirts of the ⁠Russian capital, is the largest fuel supplier to the Moscow region. ​It was hit twice this month by Ukrainian drones, forcing it to halt ​operations.

"It will take at least half a year to repair," one of the sources said of the damage to the Moscow refinery.

Gazprom Neft, which operates the plant, ​did not reply to a request for comment.

Ukraine has stepped up ​attacks on Russian energy infrastructure with long-range drone strikes. Russia, meanwhile, has continued firing ‌missiles ⁠at energy and defence-related targets in and around Ukrainian cities.

Ukrainian strikes have knocked out a significant part of Russia's oil refining capacity, triggering oil product shortages, fuel price increases and long queues at filling stations ​in many regions ​across the country's ⁠11 time zones.

The Moscow plant, which has been targeted multiple times, processed 11.6 million metric tons of ​oil in 2024, producing 2.9 million tons of petrol ​and 3.2 ⁠million tons of diesel, the latest available data shows.

Faced with a fuel crunch, Russia is considering a diesel export ban, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak ⁠said ​on Tuesday. The Vedomosti newspaper, meanwhile, reported ​that fuel imports were being considered to tackle shortages, especially in Crimea, where sales of ​gasoline to the public have been suspended.

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