Vladimir Putin has finally acknowledged that Ukraine’s relentless drone attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure are having an effect.

Speaking to the ruling United Russia party on June 28, the Russian president confirmed that his country is facing “a certain shortage” of fuel and that “strikes on our infrastructure sites are creating problems”.

In fact, the situation is far worse that Putin admits.

Russia has hit back hard at Kyiv and other cities in Ukraine, launching massive strikes over night on July 1 with a combination of drones as well as cruise and ballistic missiles, killing at least 17 people and injuring dozens more.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, had warned that the Kremlin was planning another massive attack in retaliation after a month in which a Ukrainian air offensive has put considerable pressure on Russian defences and morale.

Throughout June, Ukraine stepped up its strikes on Russia’s energy infrastructure deep in the heart of European Russia, far from the front lines of the war in eastern Ukraine. Oil refineries in Moscow itself have been hit. All regions of Russia now report fuel shortages and knock-on effects are emerging with delays in the delivery of food and other goods.

Russian-occupied Crimea has been a particular target, with regional authorities declaring a state of emergency on June 26 amid power outages, food shortages and fuel rationing that includes banning the sale of petrol to civilians.

Crimea has........

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