On this pool {photograph} distributed by Russian state company Sputnik, Russia’s Vladimir Putin addresses the viewers on the twenty third Congress of the United Russia occasion in Moscow on June 28, 2026.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin has conceded that the nation is dealing with gas shortages following a barrage of long-range Ukrainian drone strikes on key vitality infrastructure, though he insisted the Kremlin was coping with them.
The Russian president’s feedback throughout an interview with a state TV reporter on Sunday mark the primary time he has detailed the extent to which Ukraine’s deep-strike success has hampered Russia’s gas manufacturing.
Putin stated Russia would import extra gas and expedite repairs of oil amenities to finish what he described because the “non permanent deficit,” in line with The Related Press.
“All broken amenities are being restored fairly shortly, and the problems that come up should not vital,” Putin stated. He additionally pledged to bolster Russia’s air protection capability to sort out Ukraine’s mid- to long-range drone capabilities.
Ukraine has stepped up assaults on Russian oil amenities in current weeks, in search of to chop off Moscow’s vitality revenues and attempt to power Putin into bringing an finish to the greater than four-year struggle.
The assaults, together with an enormous explosion at Gazprom’s Moscow Refinery earlier within the month, have prompted analysts to counsel that the battle may very well be shifting in Ukraine’s favor.
Ukraine has additionally intensified its strikes on Crimea, which Russia seized by power in 2014, as a part of a method to isolate the peninsula, and has benefited from a sequence of political tail winds in current weeks.
Talking earlier on Sunday, Putin used a speech to the ruling United Russia occasion congress to bolster his resolve to realize the nation’s army goals and challenge Russia’s energy.
He vaguely referred to the impression of Ukraine’s assaults on Russian vitality amenities, saying: “Sure, we see and realise our issues – we additionally reply to them.”
Putin added: “We will definitely deal with all of the challenges we face at present, together with terrorist assaults on our territory and our infrastructure.”
Automobiles queue at a fuel station operated by Rosneft, a state-controlled Russian oil firm, on June 27, 2026, in Moscow, Russia. Russia has been experiencing a gas disaster since mid-June, brought on by elevated Ukrainian drone assaults on oil refineries.
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The Russian president additionally acknowledged the impression of Ukraine’s drone strikes throughout a gathering with authorities ministers and different officers, noting the queues at petrol stations and saying a full ban on diesel exports was into consideration.
Researchers on the Institute for the Examine of Battle, a Washington-based assume tank, stated the Russian president’s newest feedback acknowledged the results of Ukraine’s long-range strike marketing campaign however sought to dismiss considerations and “promote a facade of stability.”
“Putin didn’t explicitly talk about Ukraine’s strike marketing campaign in opposition to Russia or the wide-scale gasoline shortages skilled throughout the complete nation, however Putin is probably going subtly making an attempt to painting himself as cognizant of the financial and social struggles Russia is dealing with,” ISW researchers stated Sunday.
Russian oil refineries
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated on Sunday that the nation’s forces struck two extra Russian oil refineries, one within the Krasnodar area, which was estimated to be about 186 miles from the entrance line, and one other facility within the Yaroslavl area, about 435 miles from the Ukrainian border.
“Every of our long-range sanctions is a discount within the sources working for the Russian struggle machine, and one other step in direction of peace,” Zelenskyy stated by way of Telegram, in line with a Google translation.
There have been no quick experiences from Russian authorities in regards to the strike. Mikhail Evraev, governor of the Yaroslavl area, stated Sunday {that a} drone hazard alert had been issued and site visitors had been briefly closed on the highway out of Yaroslavl towards Moscow.
Rescuers from the State Emergency Service reply to the aftermath of a missile strike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, on June 26, 2026.
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Ukraine’s president not too long ago signed off on a 40-day operation designed to affect the Kremlin to carry an finish to the struggle. Zelenskyy, who shared the announcement by way of Telegram on Thursday, gave no additional particulars in regards to the marketing campaign.
Ukraine’s drone marketing campaign concentrating on Russian oil amenities seems prone to take its toll on the Russian financial system, which is already experiencing a slowdown this yr.
“In fact, the scenario the place the gas sector operates under full capability for a number of months will most likely take one thing out of this yr’s GDP outcomes,” Alexey Zabotkin, the deputy governor of Russia’s central financial institution, informed reporters on Monday, in line with Reuters.
Russia’s central financial institution has forecast gross home product progress of between 0.5% and 1.5% in 2026.
