Ukrainian drones have proven to be more successful in the issue of Russia's energy trade than sanctions, and than all Western attempts to limit prices and impose an embargo on Russian exports.
This is reported by the publication Spectator.co.uk.
As the publication notes, Ukraine is fighting not one, but two hot wars against Russia. The first, a land war along the front line, has reached a stalemate. While the second, in the form of drone strikes and sabotage raids deep into enemy territory, could be a cardinal strategy for hitting Russia "where it would be very hurt."
In particular, last week, two Ukrainian kamikaze drones scored a spectacular hit on an oil and gas refinery and an oil export terminal in Ust-Luga near St Petersburg.
The strike severely weakened Russia's ability to produce and export naphtha, jet fuel and gasoil, and liquefied natural gas. It will take weeks or months before the refinery returns to its usual capacity.
"In fact, these Ukrainian-made drones have been more successful in enforcing their own violent sanctions on Russia's hydrocarbon trade than all of the West's failed attempts to limit prices and embargo Russian exports," the journalists emphasize.
Preserving Russia's ability to export oil and liquefied natural gas was at the core of Russian President Vladimir Putin's strategy to kill the sanctions, and until recently protected the economy from the worst effects of Western economic warfare. Although the war now consumes about 40% of the Kremlin's government spending, oil and gas revenues are actually higher than before the war because of the complex situation in the Middle East and the Houthi attacks on tankers in the Red Sea. China and India, backed by a cynical inter-national network of tanker fleets, many of them Greek-owned, have kept Russian oil flowing out and the petrodollars flowing in.
Russia's hydrocarbon infrastructure is the economic lifeblood of the Kremlin war machine and the ultimate target environment. Pumping stations, LNG terminals, and refineries are huge branched industrial facilities filled with a flammable product. So considering this, Ukraine's new strategy has the potential to be too painful for Russia, the publication adds.