The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, has ordered the Armed Forces this Friday to concentrate their operations against refineries in Russian territory, at a time when social discontent is increasing due to the fuel shortage in Ukraine. In recent days, images of endless queues at gas stations have been disseminated, where confrontations between citizens have even occurred.
Zelensky has pointed out that the energy crisis in Russia "is worsening" due to President Vladimir Putin's refusal to end the war, and has stressed that the long-range attacks launched in recent weeks will continue. To this end, he has announced the creation of a "special command" to coordinate these types of operations.
"I have signed a decree establishing a special command within the Armed Forces of Ukraine, a command for long-range attacks," which "must concentrate one hundred percent of the available resources on further degrading Russia's combat potential," Zelensky announced.
The leader emphasized that "our long-range attacks have reached several regions of Russia itself (...) We will intensify this strategy. Our soldiers will have many more opportunities to reach the Russian occupiers."
In his message, Zelensky insisted that "we have presented proposals on how to bring peace closer, and we have support not only among our partners around the world, but also within Putin's own circle. They understand what is happening and that peace has no alternative."
At the same time, he warned that if Putin maintains his current stance, discontent within Russia will continue to grow, fueled by the impact of these attacks and by fuel supply problems.
In the last few hours, the Ukrainian president has once again boasted about the reach of some of these operations, which have managed to hit targets located almost 2,500 kilometers from the front line. "Ukrainian drones reached Siberia and attacked the oil refinery in Omsk," he highlighted.
Zelensky recalled that the latest offensives have hit infrastructure in Russian regions far from each other, such as Saratov, Rostov, Tver, Stavropol, and Krasnodar, as well as in Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, and Voronezh, in addition to other facilities located in Moscow, Leningrad, and Bryansk.