Zelenskyy names Russia’s losses from Ukraine’s strikes
Photo: Volodymyr Zelenskyy (facebook.com/zelenskyy.official)
The head of state spoke about the findings of an intelligence report on Russian losses caused by Ukrainian "long-range sanctions."
"In recent months alone, Russia has lost 10% of its oil refining capacity. It is also important to note that Russian oil companies are being forced to shut down wells. This is even more significant. The nature of Russian oil production means this is what hurts them the most. Of course, apart from losing money," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
According to him, restoring production at Russian wells requires far more effort than in many other oil-producing countries. Other producers shut down wells even because of market fluctuations, but Russians cannot do that.
"They are genuinely hurt by losing production. And when it comes to Russia’s overall state revenues, due to our comprehensive pressure — at all levels — they have already run a deficit over the first five months of the year that is significantly larger than what they had planned for the entire year," the president stressed.
Putin is driving Russia toward bankruptcy
He added that the Russian President "set aside money for war," but not enough to wage it indefinitely. Volodymyr Zelenskyy also noted that every Ukrainian retaliatory strike pushes the aggressor state closer to ending the war.
"They already have a significant number of regions in a state of bankruptcy, and Putin is leading Russia toward bankruptcy. And the various schemes they invent to make money will not help them. We see these Russian schemes, we track them. We will break them," the head of state said.
The president also noted that he had approved new operations for Ukraine’s special services and Defense Forces.
On May 17, the Defense Forces struck the Moscow oil refinery, the Solnechnogorskaya oil depot, and several enterprises linked to microelectronics production for the first time.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said that, in addition to the refinery, the Volodarskoye oil pumping station and the Angstrem plant were also hit. The company manufactures semiconductors for Russia’s military-industrial complex and is under Western sanctions.
