Putin downplays the impact of Ukraine's attacks on oil refineries in Russia

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Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Ukraine's recent strikes on Russian oil refineries did not cause significant damage, and he pledged to respond to that, Interfax news agency reported.

“They struck here and there,” Putin said. “And nothing was important. They are still continuing.”

His comments came after the governor of Russia's Ryazan region said that a major Ukrainian drone attack caused a fire at an oil refinery in the region on Thursday morning.

This was the first confirmed Ukrainian attack on a Russian energy facility since US President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to an energy ceasefire.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Wednesday that Ukraine attacked oil refineries in the Saratov and Ryazan regions, but Ukraine denied its involvement.

For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Thursday the resumption of strikes on Russian oil refineries, defying his American counterpart’s announcement of a truce in terms of targeting energy facilities.

In an interview with the Financial Times newspaper published Thursday, the Ukrainian president said, "The ban (on targeting refineries) has been lifted. It's over."

Ukraine had reported suspending strikes on Russian oil refineries following Trump's unilateral and unexpected announcement on Sunday of a "truce in the energy sector."

Russia reported on Thursday that an oil refinery in Ryazan, located about 200 kilometers southeast of Moscow, had caught fire following a "large-scale attack" launched by Ukraine using drones and missiles. For its part, the Kremlin accused Kiev of undermining the mediation efforts made by the United States.

The US President publicly criticized Ukraine on several occasions for targeting energy facilities inside Russia, considering that this exacerbates the global fuel shortage and contributes to a sharp rise in prices.

As for Kiev, it says that it is trying through these attacks to cut off the flow of Russian revenues from hydrocarbons, which Moscow uses to finance the war in Ukraine.

Many refineries and fuel depots have been targeted in recent years, causing fuel shortages inside Russia.

Zelensky previously said that he would not agree to stop these strikes unless the United States provided Ukraine with Patriot interceptor missiles, at a time when Kiev suffers from a lack of air defense means to confront Russian attacks.