Some components of Russian exports decreased by 80% in August, President Volodymyr Zelensky reported on Telegram based on a report by the Head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense Oleh Ivashchenko. According to the Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR), based on information obtained from internal Russian documents, Russian ships are effectively blocked in Novorossiysk as a result of Ukrainian drone strikes.
Zelensky emphasized that military intelligence, citing internal Russian documents, records that “just this month, some components of exports from the aggressor country have already decreased by 80%“. He stressed that these are significant losses for the Russian federal budget, as well as for regional budgets, which, according to him, “were already on the verge of bankruptcy”.
The Russian side acknowledges that the ships of its Black Sea Fleet are effectively blocked in Novorossiysk due to Ukrainian drone strikes and cannot operate at sea. According to the president, the Russian leadership “cannot find a way out of this situation”.
Since the Russian fleet cannot provide convoys for commercial and shadow fleets, Russia is considering equipping civilian vessels with small arms and electronic warfare (EW) equipment, as well as placing military personnel on them. Volodymyr Zelensky promised to prepare a response to such “militarization of shipping by Russia”.
Effectiveness of Ukrainian strikes on Russian targets
Military intelligence also confirmed the high effectiveness of Ukrainian strikes on Russian military production and oil industry facilities.
In particular, after the Defense Forces struck the Kamensky plant in the Rostov region, the Russians lost a significant part of their production capacity for manufacturing solid-fuel engines for missiles. The GUR also has evidence that one of the largest Russian refineries in Kstovo, Nizhny Novgorod region, which annually processed 17 million tons of oil, has ceased to function.
Previous export reductions and infrastructure strikes
Earlier, the Monitoring Group of the Institute of Black Sea Strategic Studies reported that in July, the transportation of Russian petroleum products decreased by 45.6% compared to June. This happened as a result of systematic attacks by the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Security Service of Ukraine on Russian infrastructure and tankers in the Black and Azov Seas.
At the beginning of August, two largest grain terminals in Russia in the southern port of Novorossiysk suspended operations due to Ukrainian drone strikes. In the first 20 days of August, exports of Russian crude oil from ports in the Black Sea decreased by 3.2 times and amounted to about 1.7 million tons compared to 5.5 million tons in July.
Source: Ukrainska Pravda
