Ukraine has inflicted over $7 billion in losses on Russia through strikes on its oil infrastructure – media reports
This is reported by The Washington Post.
In particular, a series of strikes in late March and early April on key oil hubs – Ust-Luga and Primorsk on the Baltic Sea, as well as Novorossiysk on the Black Sea – resulted in Russia losing around $2.2 billion in export revenue.
As explained by Boris Dodonov, head of the Centre for Energy and Climate Research at the Kyiv School of Economics, the attacks caused weeks of downtime for port infrastructure and a temporary drop in export volumes.
According to him, further strikes, particularly on oil refineries, will only exacerbate the financial losses. For example, the attack on Rosneft’s refinery in Tuapse caused such extensive damage that the facility will likely have to be rebuilt virtually from scratch – the potential cost of restoration could reach $5 billion.
Despite this, Russia’s oil export revenues rose sharply in March – to $19 billion compared to $9.8 billion in February. This trend is linked to the surge in global oil prices against the backdrop of the war with Iran, notes Dodonov.
At the same time, intensifying sanctions pressure and rising war costs are complicating the implementation of the Russian budget. According to researcher Craig Kennedy, for Russia to balance its finances, the average oil price needs to remain at around $115 per barrel until the end of the year.
Furthermore, strikes on infrastructure have already affected production: in April, Russian companies cut output by approximately 300–400 thousand barrels per day, Kennedy added.
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