New Delhi, Aug. 28 -- Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian refinery infrastructure complicated logistics across the Urals basin, but Indian refiners maintained their sourcing calculus and Russian barrels stayed the first call.

The data, compiled by commodity tracking firms and reported by Business Standard on Wednesday, showed Russia accounting for roughly a third of India's total crude oil imports in August, slightly lower than the record levels set in June and July but still well ahead of Saudi Arabia and Iraq. India processed approximately 5.1 million barrels per day in August, and Russian crude supplied between 1.7 and 1.8 million of those barrels per day, according to preliminary tanker-tracking data.

What shifted in August was not t...