Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he instructed Ukraine’s intelligence and army to “act in advance” against Russian facilities used in the over-four-year war.
In an evening video address late on Wednesday, Zelenskyy said he had listened to a briefing earlier in the day from Defence Intelligence Chief Oleh Ivashchenko, including on energy strikes by Ukraine, claiming the country’s intelligence obtained “some internal Russian documents” assessing these strikes are being “felt painfully” by Moscow.
Noting that Ukraine has hit a number of targets in this context, including those more than 1,200 kilometres from the front line, Zelenskyy said communication centres of the Russian army have also been hit.
“I instructed our intelligence and our army to act in advance against the facilities the Russians use to scale up the war,” he said.
Zelenskyy claimed that Moscow is currently pulling more air defence assets to the Russian capital, as well as to the town of Valdai and the Kerch Bridge, the latter of which was built after Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea to connect the peninsula with its mainland.
He also claimed that more than 60 Russian regions are experiencing fuel shortages.
Due to recent Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian oil refineries, several facilities suspended operations for maintenance, prompting Moscow to periodically impose restrictions aimed at stabilising the domestic fuel market.
Restrictions on fuel sales have recently been imposed by local authorities in a number of regions, including Tyumen and Tatarstan.
In Crimea, Russian-supported officials announced over the weekend that fuel sales to individuals and businesses had been suspended entirely, with supplies reserved for essential public services. Earlier this month, Ukraine's General Staff claimed its forces had struck 16 major Russian oil refineries and fuel terminals, taking more than 30 percent of refining capacity offline.
