The United States has urged Ukraine to stop attacks on Russia's energy infrastructure, warning that drone strikes could raise global oil prices and provoke retaliation. About this write Financial Times.
According to the publication, repeated warnings from Washington were conveyed to high-ranking officials of the State Security Service of Ukraine, SBU and intelligence.
Note that since the start of the Kremlin's full-scale invasion in February 2022, both intelligence units have steadily expanded their own programs to use drones to strike Russian targets on land, at sea, and in the air.
The White House has grown increasingly frustrated by brazen Ukrainian drone attacks that have hit refineries, terminals, depots and storage facilities across western Russia, damaging its oil production capacity.
Russia remains one of the world's most important energy exporters, despite Western sanctions on its oil and gas sector. Oil prices have risen about 15 percent this year to $85 a barrel, sending fuel costs soaring just as U.S. President Joe Biden kicks off his re-election campaign.
Washington is also concerned that if Ukraine continues to strike Russian targets, particularly those hundreds of miles from the border, Russia could retaliate by attacking energy infrastructure that the West relies on.
"We do not encourage and do not allow attacks inside Russia," - said a representative of the US National Security Council. The CIA declined to comment. In Kyiv, the representative of the SBU refused to comment. Representatives of the GUR and Volodymyr Zelenskyi's office did not respond to requests for comments.
Ukraine has stepped up its airstrikes in recent weeks as its drone program expands and the tide of the ground war shifts in Moscow's favor. It also follows growing discontent in Kyiv over the West's duplicitous approach to curbing Moscow's energy revenues.
According to a military intelligence official, there have been at least 2022 attacks on major Russian refineries since 12 and at least nine this year, as well as several terminals, warehouses and storage facilities.
Helima Croft, a former CIA analyst now at RBC Capital Markets, recently noted that Ukraine has shown it can strike much of Russia's western oil export infrastructure, putting about 60 percent of the country's exports at risk.
The US objections come amid a tough re-election battle for Biden this year and rising gasoline prices, up nearly 15% this year to around $3,50 a gallon.
"Nothing scares a sitting American president like a spike in pump prices in an election year." said Bob McNally, president of consulting firm Rapidan Energy and a former White House energy adviser.
Ukraine is increasing the number of strikes against the Russian Federation
Ukrainian officials claim to have developed drones with a range of over 1000 km and a payload capable of causing serious damage.
Last week, Kyiv carried out two of the largest and most widespread drone attacks, while seven Russian energy facilities were successfully hit as a result of operations by both the GUR and the SBU.
Over the past year, GRU and SBU naval drones have also struck Russian ports, destroyed several Russian warships in the Black Sea and struck the Crimean bridge, which is valuable to Moscow, connecting Russia to the occupied Ukrainian peninsula.
According to one Ukrainian official who was involved in the planning and execution of the attacks, the purpose of the "special operations" is to disrupt the supply of fuel to Russian forces and cut funding for the Kremlin's military operations.
Kyiv also wants to strike a symbolic blow by bringing the war closer to Moscow and demonstrating that its air defenses — particularly around the Kremlin — can be breached.
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