Ukraine is employing long-range attacks against Russian energy infrastructure to keep pressure on Moscow following a recent easing of international restrictions on Russian oil, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in an interview.
This month Washington granted a 30-day waiver permitting countries to take on sanctioned Russian oil and petroleum products that were stranded at sea. The waiver was described as an attempt to stabilise global energy markets unsettled by the conflict in the Middle East. Some European allies of Ukraine, who want to maintain tight pressure on Russia over its war, voiced criticism of the U.S. decision.
Asked about what Kyiv calls an intensification of strikes on Russian energy targets in recent days, Zelenskiy linked the operations to the shift in international sanctions policy. "The pressure on Russia in the world is decreasing," he said. "Therefore, unlike most countries in the world, Ukraine has its own sanctions: its long-range capabilities."
He emphasised the need for Kyiv to respond to Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities. Following a recent series of heavy drone and missile attacks by Russia, Zelenskiy said that failing to answer those strikes would lead Moscow to "simply continue the war and not even think about pauses."
Disruption to Russian exports
Ukraine's campaign has affected operations at key Baltic terminals. Sources reported that Russia's Ust-Luga and Primorsk ports suspended crude oil and oil product loadings after drone attacks set fires that produced smoke visible as far away as Finland. Primorsk resumed loadings on Thursday, but three sources said it operated at lower than normal capacity because its infrastructure had been damaged.
Ukraine's SBU security service issued a statement saying its long-range drones had flown over 900 km (560 miles) from its Alpha special operations centre to strike the Ust-Luga terminal.
Based on market data, calculations indicated that at least 40% of Russia's oil export capacity had been halted as a result of Ukrainian drone attacks, a disputed attack on a major pipeline, and the seizure of tankers. That shutdown was described as the most severe oil supply disruption in modern Russian history, occurring at a time when oil prices had moved above $100 a barrel amid the Iran war.
Russia's pipeline operator Transneft said it would attempt to redirect oil exports from Baltic Sea ports damaged by the drone strikes, according to an Interfax report.
Uncertainty over duration and impact
Adi Imsirovic, an energy lecturer at Oxford University, cautioned that it was too early to judge how permanent the damage to Russia's export infrastructure would be. He noted that if storage facilities at the ports had been seriously damaged, that could suspend flows through pipelines for an extended period.
Imsirovic also distinguished between the effects of previous Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries and the more recent attacks on export facilities. He said the refinery campaign, which began in mid-last year, had affected Russia's domestic fuel market, while the latest wave targeting export infrastructure would more directly affect government revenues.
Officials in Kyiv framed the strikes as a calibrated response intended to maintain pressure on Russia after a perceived decline in the international measures applied to Moscow. The situation remains fluid, with damage assessments and export rerouting efforts underway.