Ukraine Urges Allies to Step Up Pressure on Russia

Ukraine is calling on its international allies to intensify pressure on Russia across all fronts, emphasizing that cutting off the aggressor's "oxygen" is crucial to ending the conflict. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba stated on the platform X that a comprehensive strategy involving military, economic, and political measures is necessary to compel Russian President Vladimir Putin to cease hostilities.

Kuleba highlighted that Ukraine is already contributing by conducting "medium-range strikes" and disrupting the logistics of Russian occupation forces. He urged allies to "strangle Russia's war machine, cut off funding for its war treasury, and deprive Putin of any illusions that he can achieve any goals on the battlefield."

According to the minister, a critical mass of such measures could fundamentally alter the situation. "Together, we can deprive the Putin regime of oxygen and leave him no other path but to end the war," Kuleba asserted, adding that "action is needed now, not later."

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that strikes were carried out overnight on June 21 against Russian naval logistics facilities, oil industry installations, and air defense systems on both sides of the Crimean Bridge. Additionally, on June 20, Ukrainian forces struck the Tyumen oil refinery in Antipinsky, Russia, located approximately 2,000 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.