Main points
- Strikes on Russian refineries have reduced oil processing to a 16-year low, threatening fuel shortages.
- Political strategist Taras Zagorodny believes that an economic collapse could destabilize Putin's government, and the UAE's withdrawal from OPEC weakens the oil market, which is an additional blow to Russia.
Strikes on Russian refineries have already reduced oil processing to a 16-year low, while Ukrainian forces are seeking to create fuel shortages ahead of peak demand.
Political strategist Taras Zagorodny explained to Channel 24 that Putin will hold out until the last, but the economic collapse will inevitably destabilize his power, and “very interesting events” will begin in Russia.
How do strikes on oil refineries in Russia affect its economy and the war?
Compared to last year, Russian refineries are exploding more often, and there are still enough potential targets. The logic of the strikes is to create a critical fuel shortage just before the summer season, when the load on refineries is greatest. Without processing, there will be no exports, and without exports, wells will have to be shut down.
The UAE has left OPEC – I think Iraq and Venezuela are next. The Americans’ long-standing dream is coming true: to destroy this “cartel” and replace it with one they control themselves. There will be no more coordination of production and prices – every man for himself,
– said Zagorodny.
At the same time, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov publicly hinted that Russians are keeping their savings outside the bank. People are withdrawing money from their accounts en masse, and experts are drawing parallels with the Soviet system, from which funds were simply withdrawn to cover the budget deficit in the last years of the USSR.
“State Duma deputy Gennady Zyuganov turned out to be not so wrong: by the fall, several factors may converge at one point – and someone will try to seize power. Putin will fight to the end. But economic collapse in Russia is inevitable and will lead to destabilization of the regime. And then – very interesting events, in which Ukraine will also take part, so that the fire of civil war does not go out,” Zagorodny noted.
Pay attention! Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the intensification of Ukrainian long-range strikes on Russian territory, in particular with a focus on the use of long-range systems. Ukraine has already carried out attacks on facilities in the Urals, which caused significant losses for the Russian Federation, including damage to military aircraft and a decrease in revenues from the oil sector.
What else is known about the attacks on refineries in Russia?
- As a result of two SBU raids, 70% of the Perm LVDS was destroyed, as well as all tanks with a volume of 50 thousand cubic meters. The technological process at the station was put out of action for an indefinite period.
- Ukrainian UAVs attacked fuel and energy complex facilities in the area of the port of Primorsk in the Leningrad Region, which is one of the key Russian oil terminals for exports across the Baltic Sea.
- Ukrainian drones continue to strike Russian facilities, in particular oil refining facilities in Tuapse, which also has an impact on the situation on the front.