Russian President Putin admits fuel shortages due to Ukrainian drone strikes

Russian President Vladimir Putin has conceded that the country is facing fuel shortages following a barrage of long-range Ukrainian drone strikes on key energy infrastructure, although he insisted the Kremlin was dealing with them.

The Russian president's comments during an interview with a state TV reporter on Sunday mark the first time he has detailed the extent to which Ukraine's deep-strike success has hampered Russia's fuel production.

Putin said Russia would import more fuel and expedite repairs of oil facilities to end what he described as the "temporary deficit."

"All damaged facilities are being restored quite quickly, and the issues that arise are not critical," Putin said. He also pledged to bolster Russia's air defense capacity to tackle Ukraine's mid- to long-range drone capabilities.

Ukraine has stepped up attacks on Russian oil facilities in recent weeks, seeking to cut off Moscow's energy revenues and try to force Putin into bringing an end to the more than four-year war.

The attacks, including a huge explosion at Gazprom's Moscow Refinery earlier in the month, have prompted analysts to suggest that the conflict could be shifting 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 political tail winds in recent weeks.

Speaking earlier on Sunday, Putin used a speech to the ruling United Russia party congress to reinforce his resolve to achieve the country's military objectives and project Russia's strength.

He vaguely referred to the impact of Ukraine's attacks on Russian energy facilities, saying: "Yes, we see and realise our problems – we also respond to them."

Putin added: "We will certainly handle all the challenges we are facing today, including terrorist attacks on our territory and our infrastructure."

The Russian president also acknowledged the impact of Ukraine's drone strikes during a meeting with government ministers and other officials, noting the queues at petrol stations and saying a full ban on diesel exports was under consideration.

Researchers at the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said the Russian president's latest comments acknowledged the effects of Ukraine's long-range strike campaign but sought to dismiss concerns and "promote a facade of stability."

"Putin did not explicitly discuss Ukraine's strike campaign against Russia or the wide-scale gasoline shortages experienced across the entire country, but Putin is likely subtly trying to portray himself as cognizant of the economic and social struggles Russia is facing," ISW researchers said Sunday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday that the country's forces struck two more Russian oil refineries, one in the Krasnodar region, which was estimated to be about 186 miles from the front line, and another facility in the Yaroslavl region, about 435 miles from the Ukrainian border.

"Each of our long-range sanctions is a reduction in the resources working for the Russian war machine, and another step towards peace," Zelenskyy said via Telegram.

There were no immediate reports from Russian authorities about the strike. Mikhail Evraev, governor of the Yaroslavl region, said Sunday that a drone danger alert had been issued and traffic had been briefly closed on the road out of Yaroslavl toward Moscow.

Ukraine's president recently signed off on a 40-day operation designed to influence the Kremlin to bring an end to the war. Zelenskyy, who shared the announcement via Telegram on Thursday, gave no further details about the campaign.

Ukraine's drone campaign targeting Russian oil facilities appears likely to take its toll on the Russian economy, which is already experiencing a slowdown this year.

"Of course, the situation where the fuel sector operates below full capacity for several months will probably take something out of this year's GDP results," Alexey Zabotkin, the deputy governor of Russia's central bank, told reporters on Monday.

Russia's central bank has forecast gross domestic product growth of between 0.5% and 1.5% in 2026.