Ukraine’s Kinetic Sanctions Offset Rising Oil Prices for Russia, Says Presidential Commissioner

Ukrainian strikes on Russia’s oil and gas industry have prevented Russia from profiting further from rising oil prices.

Vladislav Vlasyuk, the President’s Commissioner for Sanctions Policy, stated this during a meeting with journalists attended by a Militarnyi correspondent.

Since April 4, not a single tanker has entered or left the Russian ports of Ust-Luga and Novorossiysk, which were targeted by Ukrainian attacks. The port in Primorsk has partially resumed operations.

“In other words, they are dysfunctional: they are not operating, they are not receiving or shipping cargo,” noted Vladislav Vlasyuk.

In Ust-Luga, too, almost nothing has been happening since April 1. At the same time, Primorsk has begun to resume operations — on average, two tankers enter and leave there each day.

“I think we will return to the topic of Primorsk with another type of sanctions,” Vlasyuk added.

Meanwhile, on the night of April 9, Ukrainian drones struck a power substation on the territory of the Russian Krymskaya oil pumping station in the Krasnodar Krai.

The attacked Krymskaya production and dispatch station pumps oil and petroleum products through several main oil pipelines, including to the port of Novorossiysk, as well as to the Ilsky and Afipsky oil refineries. The facility is part of the structure of JSC Chernomortransneft.

On April 7, drones again attacked the Ust-Luga Oil terminal in the Leningrad region of the Russian Federation.

According to preliminary data, at least three tanks belonging to the Transneft-Baltika were damaged.

On the night of April 6, Ukrainian drones damaged oil pipelines near berths No. 1 and No. 2 of the Sheskharis terminal in Novorossiysk.

Russia has approximately 6-8 major seaports and clusters through which oil is regularly shipped by tankers (if major export hubs are taken into account). Therefore, even strikes or restrictions affecting 2-4 ports can significantly impact all exports, which is precisely what Ukraine is trying to achieve.