Amid fuel shortages in Russia, Russian President Vladimir Putin admitted that Ukraine is striking deep into Russian territory, but tried to downplay the significance of Ukraine’s deep-strike campaign. Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported on 8 October that Putin made the statement a day earlier, while attempting to minimize the importance of the attacks that have caused gasoline shortages and price surges across Russia and occupied Ukraine.

Putin acknowledges Ukraine’s refinery strikes, calls campaign useless

ISW reported that Putin said Ukraine is striking deep into Russian territory but claimed the campaign “will not help.” He stated that Russia’s main task is to ensure the safety of civilians, strategic facilities, and energy infrastructure. 

Reuters said on 7 October that industry sources said Belarus has increased its rail-transported gasoline exports to Russia fourfold month-on-month in September. In total, Belarus exported 49,000 metric tons of gasoline — about 14,500 barrels per day — and 33,000 tons of diesel fuel to the Russian domestic market.

Kremlin-linked blogger criticizes Moscow’s failure to defend refineries

A Kremlin-affiliated Russian milblogger expressed concern about Ukraine’s refinery strike campaign and condemned the Kremlin’s failure to protect the country’s energy infrastructure, ISW noted. The milblogger said on 8 October that Ukrainian forces are targeting Russian oil infrastructure to cause maximum economic damage. He noted that Ukraine can now strike refineries located up to 2,000 kilometers inside Russian territory — previously beyond its reach.

The milblogger said Ukrainian forces are specifically hitting electrical desalting units with atmospheric-vacuum tubes (ELOU-AVT), which he called the “heart” of the refineries, vital for processing and separating crude oil. He warned that the growing Ukrainian strike capability threatens infrastructure in Russia’s deep rear, a major concern given Moscow’s reliance on energy revenues to fund its war in Ukraine.

The milblogger urged Russian authorities to strengthen protection of energy facilities and criticized attempts to shift that responsibility to private companies. 

"Russian milbloggers have repeatedly complained throughout the war about the Kremlin’s failure to adapt to repeated successful Ukrainian strikes and to construct protective shelters at critical infrastructure facilities," ISW wrote.