Some Russian exports fell by 80% in August, Zelenskyy says

Defence Intelligence of Ukraine says some components of Russia's exports fell by 80% in August, according to internal Russian documents, while Russian warships have effectively been blocked in Novorossiysk by Ukrainian drone strikes.

Source: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Telegram, following a briefing by Lieutenant General Oleh Ivashchenko, head of Defence Intelligence of Ukraine

Quote: "Our military intelligence is recording that, according to internal Russian documents, some components of exports from the aggressor country have already fallen by 80% this month alone. These are significant losses for the Russian federal budget, as well as regional budgets, which were already on the verge of bankruptcy.

The Russian side acknowledges that its Black Sea Fleet ships are also effectively blocked in Novorossiysk thanks to our drone strikes and are unable to operate at sea. The Russian leadership has not found a way out of this situation."

Details: As the president noted, since the Russian fleet is unable to provide escorts for commercial and shadow fleets, Russia is considering equipping civilian vessels with small arms, electronic warfare systems and military personnel to address the problem. Zelenskyy promised to prepare a response to Russia's "militarisation of shipping".

Military intelligence also confirmed the high effectiveness of Ukraine's deep strikes, particularly against Russian military production facilities and oil industry sites.

In particular, Zelenskyy stressed that after the defence forces struck the Kamensky Combine in Rostov Oblast, Russia lost a significant part of its capacity to produce solid-fuel rocket engines. Ukraine's Defence Intelligence also has evidence that one of Russia's largest oil refineries in Kstovo, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, has ceased operations. The refinery previously processed 17 million tonnes of oil annually.

Background:

• The Monitoring Group of the Black Sea Strategic Studies Institute previously reported that in July, systematic Ukrainian Armed Forces and Security Service of Ukraine attacks on Russian infrastructure and tankers in the Black and Azov seas reduced Russia's oil product shipments by 45.6% compared with June.
• In early August, Russia's two largest grain terminals in the southern port of Novorossiysk suspended operations following Ukrainian drone strikes.
• During the first 20 days of August, exports of Russian crude oil from Black Sea ports fell 3.2-fold to around 1.7 million tonnes, compared with 5.5 million tonnes in July.

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