Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin admits ‘problems’ in invasion and warns of fuel shortage from Kyiv’s strikes – UK Times

Vladimir Putin has admitted his forces have faced problems in the full-scale invasion of Ukraine as he warned of fuel shortages due to Ukraine’s growing attacks.

“Yes, we see the problems, we are aware of them and are responding to them, but we will certainly ensure the security of both the country and our citizens, as well as the inviolability of Russia’s borders,” Putin said yesterday, speaking at the congress of his ruling party, United Russia.

“We will undoubtedly overcome all the challenges facing us today, including terrorist attacks on our territory and infrastructure facilities,” the Russian president added.

Putin acknowledged at the meeting in the Kremlin with government ministers and other officials that the strikes had triggered fuel shortages in various ⁠Russian regions but that Russia was dealing with them.

In a separate conversation with Russian state television interviewer, Putin said Russia needed to boost its air defence capacity to counter intensified Ukrainian drone attacks aimed mainly at its oil industry.

Chinese president Xi Jinping has met with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko in Beijing this morning, reported China’s state news agency CCTV.

Vladimir Putin acknowledged ​on Sunday that fuel supply problems had created shortages in Russian regions and a task force was working on ensuring sufficient quantities were provided throughout the country.

Putin, addressing a meeting ⁠of senior officials on fuel supply and distribution, said Russia had to minimise the effects of Ukrainian drone strikes on oil installations linked to the shortages.

He called for measures to ensure supplies for the farm sector and said ⁠a ban on diesel exports was ​under ⁠consideration.

“You are well aware that problems for drivers and for businesses persist,” Putin told the meeting, according to accounts ⁠published by Russian news agencies. “Unfortunately, there are still queues at gas stations ​too.”

He ⁠added: “We have to reduce ‌to a minimum the impact of terrorist attacks on our civilian targets and infrastructure.”

Ukraine has stepped up medium and long-range attacks ‌on industrial targets in Russia and Russian-controlled territories inside ‌Ukraine, focusing mainly on the oil sector.

Putin said gasoline reserves were being used and now stood at 1.7 million metric tons and that July production levels should ⁠exceed those recorded in June. He said a ban on diesel exports, under discussion for some time, was being considered.

“The need to introduce a complete ban on the export of diesel fuel is being considered,” he told participants.

Russian deputy prime minister Alexander Novak had earlier said there was no need for Russia to ban ‌diesel exports, Interfax news agency reported.

A task force on fuel ​supplies was working round the clock, Putin said, adding the ‌situation required “systemic measures that match the ⁠scale of current challenges” to increase supply and keep prices ⁠at a reasonable level.

Supplying agriculture, he said, was particularly important.

“We need to make ‌every effort to ​ensure that all seasonal fuel supply ‌schedules are maintained for agro-industrial enterprises, ​because the harvest depends on it,” Putin said.

A senior military commander of Ukraine army was found dead yesterday, officials said.

Colonel Volodymyr Konnikov, the commander of Ukraine’s 154th Separate Mechanised Brigade, was reportedly found dead, Ukraine’s Operational Command South said, adding that circumstances were under investigation.

“On Sunday, 28 June, the commander of the 154th Separate Mechanised Brigade, Colonel Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Konnikov, was found dead. The circumstances of the officer’s death are being investigated,” the command said in a statement.

“Colonel Volodymyr Kononnikov was an officer devoted to Ukraine and the military, a responsible commander who cared about the personnel and needs of his unit,” it added.

However, Zaporizhzhia regional police later said that a commander of a military unit had been found dead with a gunshot wound, but did not name Konnikov.

The circumstances surrounding the death have not been disclosed but officials have launched an investigation.

A criminal case under Article 115 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code, which covers intentional homicide has been opened.

“Police are establishing the circumstances surrounding the death of the military officer,” the Zaporizhzhia regional police said in a statement.

“The commander of one of the military units was found dead with a gunshot wound,” it said.

Vladimir Putin said Russia will press ahead with its battlefield aim of fully capturing four Ukrainian regions, rejecting what he said was a new proposal by Kyiv ⁠to rein in hostilities in Russia’s more than four-year-old war on Ukraine.

In his television interview, the Russian president said Ukraine had proposed a mutual halt to long-range strikes as a step towards peace.

But Moscow saw it as a means to relieve pressure on Kyiv’s forces along the two sides’ 1,250km (775mile) front line and would not be distracted by it.

“It ⁠is clear why this proposal is being made, because our counter-strikes deep into Ukrainian territory are much stronger, have greater impact and ​are, frankly, ⁠more destructive,” Putin claimed.

“Given their catastrophic shortage of personnel, the Ukrainian Armed Forces apparently believe this could be their salvation. But saving the Kyiv regime is not part of our plans,” he claimed.

The office of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has not immediately issued a comment on Putin’s remarks.

Russian attacks killed at least four people on Sunday in Ukraine’s southeastand northeast and one in Sumy, regional officials ⁠said.

Strikes on the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia killed two people and injured 16, regional governor Ivan Fedorov said on Telegram.

Pictures posted online by the governor showed a building ablaze and parts of a neighborhood reduced to rubble.

In the northeastern border ​region ⁠of Kharkiv, a ‌frequent Russian target, a missile strike on the town of Zmiiv killed one person ‌and injured eight, including ‌two children, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said.

Police in the Kharkiv region also said an officer was killed as he was trying to organise the evacuation of residents in another community further north.

In the Sumy region, also on the Russian border, the regional governor said an elderly woman was killed during the day in an area near the border.

Joe Biden accused Donald Trump of “destroying Nato” and “choosing [Vladimir] Putin over American allies.”

Speaking from a Democratic Party fundraising gala in Maryland on Saturday, the former US president took several jabs at Mr Trump.

He said: “It’s not just his deliberate distortion and destruction of NATO and his choosing Putin over American allies or the fact that he’s diminished our standing in the eyes of the world more than any president in history has,” Kyiv Independent reported.

President Trump has heavily criticised Nato and threatened to pull out of the alliance over European members’ lack of support in the Iran war.

Ukrainian forces launched one of their largest drone attacks on Russian territory and illegally annexed Crimea, with Russian air defences claiming to intercept 660 unmanned aerial vehicles across 12 regions, the Black Sea, and the Azov Sea during a major overnight assault on Friday.

James C. Reynolds reports:

The explosion was so powerful that it sent the huge disc-shaped lid of an oil storage tank flying high above the city on a cushion of black smoke and flame.

Their successes have created debilitating shortages across Russia, from occupied Crimea to the eastern expanses of Siberia, giving Kyiv the upper hand as both sides weigh restarting peace talks.

The Independent looks at how Ukraine has mastered its long-range capabilities to devastating effect: