Photo: facebook.com_zelenskyy.official
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukrainian long-range strikes have reduced Russia’s oil refining capacity by 10% in recent months, describing the losses as “very painful” for Moscow.
Speaking after receiving an intelligence briefing, Zelensky said Ukraine’s “long-range sanctions” campaign was inflicting significant economic damage on Russia’s energy sector.
“Only in recent months, Russia has lost 10% of its oil refining capacity,” Zelensky said. “Russian oil companies are also being forced to shut down wells. This is even more significant.”
According to the Ukrainian president, Russia faces greater difficulty restoring oil production than many other oil-producing countries because of the specific nature of its extraction infrastructure.
“For them, losing production is really very painful,” he said, adding that Russia’s budget deficit has already exceeded the level Moscow had planned for the entire year.
Zelensky also claimed that Russian regions are increasingly facing financial strain and accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of driving the country toward bankruptcy.
“He set aside money for war, but not enough to wage it forever,” Zelensky stated. “Every Ukrainian strike pushes Russia closer to ending the war.”
The president added that he had approved new operations for Ukraine’s special services and defense forces.
Earlier, Ukrainian forces reportedly struck the Moscow Oil Refinery, the Solnechnogorsk fuel facility, and several enterprises linked to Russia’s microelectronics industry, including the sanctioned Angstrem semiconductor plant.
