In this swimming pool photograph distributed by Russian state agency Sputnik, Russian Vladimir Putin addresses the audience at the 23rd Congress of the United Russia party in Moscow on June 28, 2026.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin admitted that the country was facing fuel shortages following a barrage of long-range Ukrainian drone strikes on key energy infrastructure, even though he insisted the Kremlin was looking after it.
The Russian president’s comments during an interview with a state television reporter on Sunday mark the first time he has detailed the extent to which the success of deep strikes in Ukraine has hampered Russian fuel production.
Putin said Russia would import more fuel and speed up repairs to oil facilities to end what he described as a “temporary deficit”, according to The associated press.
“All damaged facilities are being restored quite quickly and the problems that arise are not critical,” Putin said. He also pledged to strengthen Russia’s air defense capability to deal with Ukraine’s medium- and long-range drone capabilities.
Ukraine has intensification of attacks on Russian oil facilities in recent weeks, seeking to cut off Moscow’s energy revenues and force Putin to end the more than four-year-old war.
The attacks, including a massive explosion at Gazprom’s Moscow refinery earlier this month, have prompted analysts to suggest the conflict could shift in Ukraine’s favor.
Ukraine has also intensified its strikes on Crimea, which Russia seized by force in 2014, as part of a strategy to isolate the peninsula, and has benefited from a series of favorable political winds in recent weeks.
Speaking earlier on Sunday, Putin used a speech at the congress of the ruling United Russia party to strengthen its resolve to achieve the country’s military goals and project Russia’s strength.
He vaguely addressed the impact of Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy facilities, saying: “Yes, we see and realize our problems – we are responding to them too.”
He added: “We will certainly meet all the challenges we face today, including terrorist attacks on our territory and infrastructure.”
Cars queue at a gas station operated by Rosneft, a Russian state-controlled oil company, June 27, 2026, in Moscow, Russia. Russia has been experiencing a fuel crisis since mid-June, caused by the increase in Ukrainian drone attacks against oil refineries.
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The Russian president also recognized the impact of Ukrainian drone strikes in a meeting with government ministers and other officials, highlighting queues at gas stations and saying a total ban on diesel exports was under consideration.
Russian oil refineriesUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said On Sunday, Russian forces struck two more Russian oil refineries, one in the Krasnodar region, located about 300 kilometers from the front line, and another in the Yaroslavl region, about 700 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.
“Each of our long-term sanctions is a reduction in resources devoted to the Russian war machine and a step closer to peace,” Zelensky said via Telegram, according to a Google translation.
Russian authorities did not immediately provide any information regarding this strike. Mikhail Evraev, governor of the Yaroslavl region, said On Sunday, a drone danger alert was issued and traffic was briefly closed on the road out of Yaroslavl towards Moscow.