Zelenskyy outlines purpose of strikes on Russian energy infrastructure
Volodymyr Zelenskyy (photo: Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
Ukraine does not need to choose between targeting Russian military sites or energy infrastructure, since Moscow uses revenue from energy sales to fund its weapon programs, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during his visit to the Kyiv Aviation Institute.
When asked whether Ukraine has the resources to strike Russian energy infrastructure instead of purely military targets, the president responded:
"We don't have to choose whether to strike military targets or energy infrastructure. He sells that energy. He (Kremlin's head Vladimir Putin – ed.) sells oil. So, is it an energy target or a military target? Honestly, it's the same thing. He sells oil, takes the money, invests it in weapons, and uses those weapons to kill Ukrainians," Zelenskyy explained
He added that Ukrainians have two options in this situation: to build their own weapons and to strike either Russia's weapons themselves or the sources of the Kremlin's revenue.
"The source is their energy sector. That's what this is about. You can't separate it into military or non-military targets. For us, all of these are legitimate targets—number one, number two. And who else could have done this to the Russians? No one," the Ukrainian leader said.
Zelenskyy also explained the purpose behind Russia's strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, saying that when Moscow cannot break Ukraine's military, it strikes deeper to break civilians, who far outnumber soldiers.
"In other words, to break the army, you have to break the civilians—to create chaos in civilian society," he added.
Strikes on Russia
On the night of February 7, drones from the Alpha Special Operations Center of Ukraine's Security Service struck an experimental chemical plant in the village of Redkino in Russia's Tver region.
The plant produces decylin-M components for Kh-55 and Kh-101 missile fuel, as well as additives for diesel and aviation fuels.
A few weeks earlier, the General Staff of Ukraine disclosed additional details about a strike on the Tuapse refinery in Russia's Krasnodar Krai. Ukrainian forces targeted a key part of the refinery's infrastructure—the liquid terminal.
In October 2025, then-Security Service chief Vasyl Maliuk reported that Ukraine had carried out more than 160 strikes on Russian refineries and other facilities deep inside Russia, reducing oil production by 90% and creating a fuel shortage of over 20%.
