Russian strongman Vladimir Putin’s war machine is losing an astounding $100 million a day as a result of Ukrainian drone strikes on the country’s oil infrastructure — dealing a staggering financial blow to the Kremlin.
A series of recent attacks on key transport routes have slashed Moscow’s oil shipments by roughly 880,000 barrels a day, Ukraine’s Armed Forces said Saturday.
“Step by step, the enemy’s oil and logistics system is losing its ability to ensure uninterrupted exports,” Commander Robert Brovdi said through Telegram.
“The result of this work is already tangible at the front — the enemy has fewer resources and more opportunities for our units,” Commander Robert Brovdi said through Telegram.
Russia exports an estimated 6.6 million barrels of oil a day — so the dent made represents roughly 13% of its exports.
Ukrainian drone strikes targeted Russian oil refineries overnight into Saturday, hitting four important sites.
Fire raged at the Novokuybyshevsk and Syzran oil refineries in the Samara region, as well as at an oil terminal in Leningrad and the Tikhoretsk oil pumping station in Krasnodar Krai, Ukraine’s Armed Forces said.
Ukrainian drones also hit oil storage sites in the occupied Mariupol region.
Russia, meanwhile, launched 219 drones across Ukraine, killing at least one and wounding 26 others.
The worst attack was in Zaporizhzhia, where drone and missile strikes that lasted for hours injured 10 civilians. A multi-story apartment building and nine houses were destroyed.
It comes as Russia’s top diplomatic envoy said Saturday peace talks with Ukraine are not at the top of Putin’s to do list.
“At this point, the issue of resuming negotiations is not our top priority,” Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said while speaking at a forum in Turkey.
“When someone is ready, let them make a proposal. We’ll see if the timing is right, the location is convenient, and what the agenda is,” Lavrov said.
The last round of trilateral talks between Ukraine, Russia, and the United States took place Feb. 16 in Geneva, before plans for further negotiations were interrupted by the war in Iran.
Lavrov added he welcomed the possibility of resuming talks in Istanbul, where they were held last year, but part of the issue has been agreeing on a location, with the United States delegation unwilling to travel overseas while the conflict in the Middle East is raging, and the Kremlin unwilling to go to the US.