Strikes on Tuapse: the Kremlin is forced to react for the first time

A series of attacks by the Ukrainian Defense Forces on oil infrastructure in Tuapse has forced the Kremlin to publicly acknowledge their consequences, which is atypical for the Russian government. This is stated in a report by the Institute for the Study of War.

According to analysts, the effect of the strikes on the oil refinery complex was so significant that on April 28, Vladimir Putin and his spokesman Dmitry Peskov personally responded to the situation. The authorities were forced to declare a state of emergency in the region due to the oil spill and fire.

Putin instructed Alexander Kurenkov to go to the scene to coordinate the elimination of the consequences. At the same time, the Kremlin announced the “classification” of the details of the damage, acknowledging the very fact of the attacks.

Energy as a target of war

The ISW emphasizes that Ukraine is consistently increasing attacks on the Russian oil infrastructure, trying to limit its income from energy exports, a key source of financing the war.

In particular, on the night of April 28, the Tuapse Refinery was hit for the third time, causing a large-scale fire. According to OSINT analysts, at least four tanks were on fire, and this time the strike fell directly on the production facilities, and not just on the storage facilities.

Consequences and prospects

Analysts predict that Ukraine will continue to use the vulnerability of Russian air defense and the scale of the Russian rear areas to intensify such attacks.

This is not only a military strategy, but also an economic one: strikes on energy infrastructure can significantly affect Russia’s ability to finance a war, while at the same time changing the balance on the global energy market.