President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukrainian long-range strikes have sharply reduced Russian oil refining in recent months, forcing Moscow to shut down oil wells and pushing its state budget deeper into deficit.
In his Monday evening address, Zelensky said Kyiv is expanding its deep-strike campaign against targets linked to Russia’s war machine, framing the operations as a justified response to Moscow’s attacks on Ukrainian cities.
Ukraine, he said, is “bringing Russia’s war of aggression back home.”
Zelesnky highlighted the growing scale of Ukraine’s long-range drone program, saying strikes that once would have been considered exceptional have now become routine.
“There was a time when dozens of Ukrainian drones striking Russia was a big deal. Now, hundreds of our long-range sanctions every day are no longer a sensation,” Zelensky said.
Citing a Ukrainian intelligence assessment, the president said Russian oil refining has fallen by 10 percent in recent months. He said Russian oil companies have been forced to shut down oil wells, which he described as particularly damaging for Russia’s energy sector.
According to him, Russia’s state budget deficit in the first five months of the year had already exceeded what Moscow had planned for the entire year.
“Already now, a significant number of their regions are in a state of bankruptcy, and Putin is leading Russia toward bankruptcy.”
Zelensky also thanked Ukrainian troops and domestic weapons manufacturers for ensuring that Russian attacks on Ukraine do not go unanswered.
“I am grateful to all our warriors – and to every Ukrainian weapons manufacturer – for making the aggressor feel pain, and for ensuring that every victim in Ukraine of Russia’s strikes, of Russian state madness, does not remain without just retribution,” Zelensky said.
He concluded by confirming the official approval of a new slate of targeted operations for Ukraine’s special services and Defense Forces.
While recent US sanctions waivers have allowed Russia to monetize oil assets, Ukraine’s domestic “long-range sanctions” appear to be having a more direct impact. By physically disabling refineries meant to process those resources, Kyiv’s deep-strike campaign is putting fresh pressure on the Kremlin’s war chest.