The fuel crisis in Russia will most likely only get worse. The first Russian region — the Kuril district of the Sakhalin region — has completely stopped selling gasoline to the public. Now, only special transport can access it. Remote regions are suffering first, since 1/7
most of Russia’s refineries and storage facilities, as well as its industrial and economic centers, are concentrated in the western part of the country. With the increasing range of Ukrainian drones, fewer and fewer refineries remain operational. While there is still no 2/7
shortage in the Leningrad and Moscow regions, panic is spreading across the market. On top of this, Russia is facing another headache — disruptions in air traffic, again caused by drone attacks. Ukraine clearly intends to paralyze Russia. The shortage of fuel in the Far East 3/7
is only the first sign. These are the most remote and poorest regions. Fuel delivery there depends on railroads, which have long suffered from a lack of bearings, deteriorating infrastructure due to negligence, and sometimes with a little “help” from Ukrainian special 4/7
services. The railway network is also overloaded with military convoys, creating bottlenecks at major junctions. At some point, storage reserves will also begin to run out if Russia cannot produce fuel in the necessary quantities. Possible supplies from Belarus will not be 5/7
able to cover the full demand. Sooner or later, the Russian authorities will face a stark choice — deliver fuel to Moscow or send it to the front. The economy simply cannot sustain both, making it impossible for Russia to continue the war. 6/7
There is no doubt now that Ukraine will keep striking refineries and fuel depots until this strategy completely topples Russia. 7/7
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Systematic destruction of Russian oil refineries by Ukraine is not only a response to Russia’s aggression, but also a signal to the Trump administration: Ukraine cannot be bent. With Trump’s return to power, the U.S. has been seeking a peace deal with Russia, pressuring
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Ukraine in the process. One of the first steps was a restriction on the use of American weapons against Russian territory, a policy approved by the previous administration. While not a formal ban, every ATACMS strike has to be cleared with the Pentagon, which simply does not
2/17
authorize strikes on Russian soil. Most likely, under threat of cutting aid, Trump also demanded Ukraine halt strikes on refineries earlier, so as not to upset a “peace-seeking” Putin. But Putin made clear he is not ready for peace, sabotaging every negotiation, and Ukraine
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Ukrainian sanctions in the form of drones are working. The fuel crisis in Russia is worsening. The most difficult situation is in Primorye, affected by the influx of tourists. The authorities in Crimea admit the situation is critical. After a series of Ukrainian strikes
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on oil refineries, they have gone into repair. Since the beginning of August alone, at least 7 Russian refineries have been attacked, four of which completely stopped operations – Novokuybyshevsk, Saratov, Volgograd, and Samara. The Ryazan refinery has lost more than half of
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its capacity. Due to sanctions and the lack of spare parts, repairing refineries is difficult. All these refineries are among the largest in the country and are key to their regions. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that the damage inflicted is
3/14
The past week can be considered a turning point in relations between the U.S., Russia, and Ukraine. Putin’s fiasco in Alaska and Zelensky’s success at the White House define the future of relations between these countries. For Trump, it is crucial to feel important and to be
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at the center of attention. This is a trait of any narcissist. Until recently, he saw Russia as a superpower, but after six months of Putin constantly wiping his feet on him, the American president became deeply disappointed. Trump still has an obsessive idea in his head:
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to end this war as quickly as possible and to gain some kind of prize and global recognition for it. Whom to negotiate with—he doesn’t care. The meetings in Alaska and at the White House were driven by the idea of trying to seat Ukraine and Russia at the negotiating table
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Putin, in calling for new negotiations, is counting on Trump to pause sanctions and pressure Ukraine. This is the sole purpose of the meeting in Alaska, and once again Trump has fallen for the same old bait. While Trump delays new sanctions in the hope of striking a deal with 1/7
dictator Putin, the EU is already working on a new sanctions package that could be introduced as early as September. During the informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in the “Gymnich” format on August 29–30 in Copenhagen—an event traditionally held every six months by the 2/7
presiding EU member state—the 19th package of sanctions against Russia will be discussed at the ministerial level for the first time. This was revealed, under condition of anonymity, by a diplomat from one of the EU member states in Brussels who is familiar with the planned 3/7
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky rules out the possibility of withdrawing Ukrainian troops from the unoccupied part of Donetsk region as a precondition for a complete ceasefire. “We will not leave Donbas. We cannot do that. For the Russians, Donbas is a bridgehead for a 1/5
future new offensive. A few years – and Putin will have an open path to Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions. And not only that. Also to Kharkiv. Right now, they want to give them about 9,000 square kilometers, which is about 30% of the entire Donetsk region (the size 2/5
of the unoccupied territory – ed.), and this is a bridgehead for new aggression.” Zelensky confirmed that he referred to the Constitution during his conversation with Trump. “I am not going to surrender my country, because I have no right to do so. And the point is not that 3/5
Bad news is coming from the Pokrovsk direction, where Russian forces have broken through the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ defensive line and penetrated deep into the rear. The Russians are using small-unit tactics with groups of 3–5 men, which are difficult to track, in order to
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infiltrate behind the lines, set up ambushes, carry out sabotage operations, and sow confusion among Ukraine’s defenders. These small groups are very hard to detect, as they use random cover and cloaks to avoid thermal cameras. Their survival rate is very low—about 80% of
2/10
the attackers are killed—but Ukraine is facing severe manpower shortages, and the defensive line has significant gaps. Fortifications are spaced hundreds of meters apart, and each may contain only a handful of soldiers. Ukraine is unable to close the breaches in the defense,
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