Russian President Confirms Intent to Retaliate Against Ukrainian Attacks on Oil and Energy Facilities

Moscow, October 15 (KUNA) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin affirmed on Thursday that his country intends to respond to Ukrainian attacks targeting oil refineries, logistics facilities, and the energy sector, noting that Kyiv continues its attempts to strike Russian oil installations. The Russian presidency (the Kremlin) said in a statement that Putin made these remarks while participating via video link from the Kremlin’s operations center at the Russian Business Forum and the 21st Congress of the Russian Public Organization “Delovaya Rossiya.” Putin said that attempts to target some Russian oil refineries continued until Wednesday, but he noted that the damage caused by the recent strikes was not significant, adding that Russia responds to attacks targeting, in his description, energy facilities, logistics centers, data centers, and other sites. He added that the Kyiv government is calling on its supporters to pressure Moscow to halt retaliatory strikes, considering that the Ukrainian side initiated the attacks on these facilities. Earlier on Wednesday, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak announced that two oil refineries in the Saratov and Ryazan regions had been hit by Ukrainian attacks, while the Russian Ministry of Defense said today that Ukrainian forces attempted to launch an attack on the Ryazan refinery during the night. Putin’s comments come amid ongoing Russian-Ukrainian confrontations and mutual accusations over targeting infrastructure and energy facilities. (End) Dan / M.M.J