Putin says Ukrainian strikes on infrastructure causing 'problems' for Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin conceded that Ukrainian strikes on critical infrastructure, particularly energy facilities, are creating "problems" for Russia, though he downplayed the severity of the resulting fuel shortage as "not critical."

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As for strikes against critical infrastructure in general, and energy infrastructure in particular, of course these attacks on our infrastructure facilities create problems, that's obvious.

Ukraine has escalated its attacks on Russian territory, recently launching one of its largest drone assaults targeting 12 regions and Crimea. Ukraine's Defense Minister aims to turn Crimea into an "island," isolating it from Russia. Russian authorities in Crimea declared a state of emergency and halted fuel sales to civilians following earlier Ukrainian attacks.

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Right now we're observing a certain shortage, but it's not critical.

Amid these strikes, Putin identified shoring up air defenses and addressing fuel shortages as top priorities. Analysts suggest Ukraine's efforts to eliminate Russian air defenses are amplifying the impact of its strikes. Ukraine's Defense Ministry claims to have destroyed 1,454 Russian air defense systems since the 2022 invasion.

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The first task ⁠is to quickly and significantly ramp up production of those air defense systems that are most needed.

Putin stated that ramping up production of needed air defense systems is the "first task." The increased pressure on Russia comes as a survey by a Ukrainian think tank suggests 81% of Russians support ending the war immediately, the highest figure since 2022. However, Putin dismissed a Ukrainian proposal for a ceasefire on long-range strikes, characterizing it as a tactic to counter Russia's "more destructive" counter-strikes.

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It is clear why this proposal is being made, because our counter-strikes deep into Ukrainian territory are much stronger, have greater impact and are, frankly, more destructive.