Ukraine hits Russian oil depots and tankers deep behind the front
Ukraine struck a string of Russian energy targets overnight into July 9, hitting oil depots in the Tver and Stavropol regions, an oil-pumping station in Ufa roughly 1,500km from the border, an oil-loading terminal in Rostov, and two tankers in the Sea of Azov. Russia’s defence ministry said it downed 73 drones.
The strikes are part of what Kyiv calls its “long-range sanctions” — a sustained effort to degrade the refining, storage and export capacity that funds Russia’s war. It is working at the retail level: Al Jazeera reports that more than 90 percent of Russian regions are now rationing fuel or reporting shortages, a striking outcome for one of the world’s largest oil producers.
The mechanism is straightforward. Damaged refineries and pumping stations cut the throughput that moves crude to domestic pumps and export terminals, so shortages appear even when reserves are ample. Moscow has rejected the idea that military pressure will force concessions and threatened instead to seize more territory in eastern Ukraine to build a “larger security zone” — signalling escalation rather than talks.