Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree on Friday creating a “special command for long-range influence on Russia” within the Armed Forces, he announced in his evening address on July 10.
The new command is intended to concentrate “100% of available resources to more tangibly reduce Russia’s military potential,” Zelensky said. It will be responsible for organizing drone attacks on targets deep inside Russian territory, the Ukrainian leader specified.
Zelensky did not disclose who would lead the command, promising only that the commander would be “maximally experienced.” “Our warriors should have much more opportunities to reach Russian occupiers precisely where they bring war to Ukraine — on the territory of Russia,” he said.
On the same day, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak acknowledged at a press conference that the cause of Russia’s gasoline shortage was the ongoing Ukrainian drone attacks on oil refineries. Enterprises are “partially going out of service due to strikes,” Novak said. Kremlin authorities had previously avoided such admissions.
In his speech, Zelensky also noted that Russia’s fuel crisis is deepening. “This is entirely fair in response to Putin’s unwillingness to end this war,” the Ukrainian president added. According to him, there is allegedly understanding among Putin’s circle that a peaceful alternative does not exist.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump, at a meeting with Zelensky on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, called the intensification of Ukrainian strikes on Russia’s energy infrastructure “an escalation that could bring the war to an end.” Putin, for his part, believes that Ukraine is seeking through its attacks to damage Russia’s economy and create a “nervous atmosphere in society.” Sources diverge: Zelensky speaks of support for his peace proposals within Putin’s circle — there are no independent confirmations of this; Novak claims sufficient processing capacity in Russia, although in June the country began importing fuel from neighboring states.