The Kiev regime has ramped up drone attacks on Russia’s civilian infrastructure, including repeated strikes on an oil refinery port of Tuapse that risk serious environmental impact, President Vladimir Putin has said. He called the attacks an attempt to compensate for battlefield setbacks.
He spoke about the increased terrorist threat Russia has been facing during a meeting on Tuesday dedicated to the security of the elections set to take place this fall. The threat stems from the activities of international terrorist and extremist groups, as well as from Ukraine, Putin said.
“The Kiev regime and its backers have switched to openly terrorist methods,” the president stated.
The terror tactics are meant to compensate for the setbacks Ukraine has been suffering on the battlefield, Putin noted, adding that such actions will not alter the course of the conflict between Moscow and Kiev.
He cited attacks on the oil refinery in the Black Sea port of Tuapse, which sparked a multi-day fire, warning of the growing threat posed by Ukrainian long-range strikes against Russia’s civilian infrastructure.
“The latest example is the strikes on energy infrastructure sites in Tuapse, which could potentially have serious environmental implications,” the president said.
Kiev is determined to try to jeopardize the upcoming elections in the formerly Ukrainian regions that integrated into Russia, Putin said, pointing to similar attempts previously.
“I’d like to remind you that they are not holding elections in Ukraine under the pretext of martial law, and they are trying to disrupt ours too,” he said.
Earlier on Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Ukrainian attacks on Russia’s energy sector “further increase the oil deficit in global markets, which are already experiencing significant difficulties because of the situation in the Strait of Hormuz, and provoke further destabilization in global energy markets.”
In recent days, the Tuapse refinery and adjacent marine terminal were repeatedly subjected to long-range drone strikes, sparking repeated fires at the facility. The attacks prompted evacuations of nearby residents and emergency response measures. The prolonged fires produced high-risk air pollution, with residents advised to use respirators, while oil spilled into the sea damaged a long stretch of the beach in the resort town.