The growing fuel crisis gripping Russia has caught up with Vladimir Putin even in the far eastern city of Vladivostok. Speaking Thursday before business circles who know all too well that his economic framing is far from the truth, the Russian leader attempted to mask a severe infrastructure crisis behind global market dynamics.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. Russian President Vladimir Putin argued Thursday that high global oil prices make exporting crude more profitable than refining it at home, while avoiding a direct answer on whether Russians should get used to recurring fuel shortages. “How much is it there now? $95, I think, per barrel of Brent. It’s more profitable to export crude oil than to process it domestically,” Putin said at the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) in Vladivostok. Accurate on price, dishonest on the cause On the price, he was broadly right. Brent crude was trading around $95 a barrel Thursday. But his explanation was incomplete. High crude prices do not automatically make refining less attractive. European gasoline and diesel refining margins are also exceptionally high, while Russia operates a state subsidy mechanism designed to encourage companies to supply fuel domestically when exports are more profitable. More importantly, Russia’s own forecasts show that crude exports are rising partly because Ukrainian drone strikes have systematically reduced domestic refining capacity. More crude exports – because Ukraine left Russia no other choice Russia is simultaneously being forced to import more fuel to cover shortages at home.