AFP, MOSCOW
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday acknowledged that the country was suffering from “a certain shortage” of fuel in an interview published by the Kremlin, after repeated Ukrainian strikes in their four-year war. Kyiv calls the attacks fair retribution for Russia’s near-daily barrages on Ukrainian civilians and energy infrastructure since its February 2022 offensive. “As for strikes against critical infrastructure in general, and energy infrastructure in particular, of course these attacks on our infrastructure facilities create problems, that’s obvious,” Putin said. “Right now, we’re observing a certain shortage, but it’s not critical.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during his interview with Russian journalist Pavel Zarubin at the Kremlin in Moscow on Sunday.
The main task now is to increase Russian anti-aircraft defense capacity and to ensure fuel supplies, particularly to Crimea, he said. The authorities in Russian-annexed Crimea on Friday declared an “emergency situation” over fuel shortages and power cuts triggered by Ukrainian attacks on its logistics chains and oil facilities.
Russia annexed the territory from Ukraine in 2014, a move not recognized by the vast majority of countries. A few hours earlier, in a speech to the United Russia party congress, Putin had vowed to ensure security and overcome challenges as Ukraine steps up its retaliatory strikes inside Russia. “Yes, we see the problems, we are aware of them and are responding to them, but we will certainly ensure the security of both the country and our citizens, as well as the inviolability of Russia’s borders,” Putin told party members. “We will undoubtedly overcome all the challenges facing us today, including terrorist attacks on our territory and infrastructure facilities,” he added. Putin’s speech came hours after a Ukrainian drone strike killed one person in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region and sparked a fire in a refinery. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called the hit part of the “operations that weaken Russia’s ability to wage this war.” “The Slavyansk oil refinery in the Krasnodar region was hit — about 300km from the frontline. We also reached a refinery in the Yaroslavl region, approximately 700km from our border,” Zelenskiy said on social media on Sunday. Last week, another Ukrainian attack caused a major fire at a refinery southeast of Moscow, shrouding the capital’s suburbs in plumes of thick black smoke.
