Europe Asia News

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky drew attention in his statement to economic data that Russia hides from both its domestic public and the world, especially losses in the oil sector.

Referring to the obtained documents and their nature, Zelensky said, “Our Ukrainian Foreign Intelligence Service has obtained new Russian documents assessing the losses of the aggressor state caused by the war. What is important is that this is specifically Russia’s internal assessment; an assessment they are trying to hide from both the world and their own domestic audience.”

Sharing concrete losses in Russia’s oil production, Zelensky stated, “The first important indicator is the decline in active oil wells. Just one Russian oil company — and not even among the largest — had to shut down around 400 wells.”

Emphasizing the long-term difficulties that shutting down the wells will create for the Russian economy, Zelensky concluded, “Considering the characteristics of Russian oil production, these are significant losses, because restarting wells in Russia is much more difficult than in other oil-producing countries.”