"No reliable protection": Ukraine drives the Russian Federation into the pre -revolutionary situation of 1917 - Forbes

To spread: the campaign of Ukrainian blows to Russian oil and gas infrastructure not only deprives Russia of the main source of funding for its aggression, but also shakes the socio-political situation in the Russian rear. It is similar to how Russian society was destabilized on the eve of the February Revolution of 1917, writes Forbes. The publication notes that Ukraine tried to beat this most vulnerable aggressor in late 2023.

But then Baiden's administration, fearing the growth of world oil prices, actually vetoed this strategy of Kiev. In the summer of 2025, Ukraine launched a new campaign of strikes on Russian refineries and oil. This time, when Washington no longer objects to such blows, the campaign has produced significant results: according to various data, the Russian Federation lost from 17% to 20% of its oil refining.

This has caused a significant shortage of fuel and rising prices in Russia's domestic market, increasing social pressure on the Kremlin, as ordinary Russians are increasingly experiencing the consequences of war. "The strikes of Ukrainian drones in oil refineries are achieving what only sanctions have been able to do.

Moscow has found ways to adapt to Western sanctions, but it has no reliable protection against Ukrainian drones," - explained former adviser to the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Sergey Kuzan. The authors of the material noted that Russian propaganda cannot ignore the lines at the gas station in many regions of Russia, but tries to explain it by the consequences of increasing the seasonal demand for fuel and unscheduled repairs of refineries.

Only sometimes recognizing that the causes of these unplanned repairs are the destructive "fragments of drones" that are free to fly over the European part of Russia. And all this happens against the background of the gradual deterioration of the overall economic situation in Russia. Although these attacks themselves will not finish the war on the refinery, they form its trajectory. "Putin often positions himself as the heir of kings who restores the empire.