Putin, in rare admission, admits Ukrainian strikes on infrastructure
Kyiv — Russia's President Vladimir Putin acknowledged on Sunday that Ukrainian strikes were causing "problems" for Russia.
"As for strikes against critical infrastructure in general, and energy infrastructure in particular, of course these attacks on our infrastructure facilities create problems, that's obvious," Putin said in an interview with Russian journalist Pavel Zarubin. "Right now we're observing a certain shortage, but it's not critical."
Ukraine has intensified strikes on Russia recently, targeting energy and logistics infrastructure. Last week it launched one of its heaviest drone assaults on Russia since the start of the war, targeting 12 regions in the neighboring nation as well as its own Crimean Peninsula, which Russia has occupied since 2014.
Ukraine's Defense Minister Mikhailo Fedorov said he aims to turn Crimea into "an island," isolating it from the rest of Russia. On Friday, Russian authorities in Crimea announced a state of emergency after halting all fuel sales to civilians in response to Ukrainian attacks earlier in the week.
Amid the attacks from Ukraine, Putin said addressing fuel shortages across Russia and shoring up the country's air defenses against Ukrainian attacks were top priorities.
Analysts say Ukraine's efforts to eliminate Russian air defense are magnifying the strikes' impact. CBS News previously reported that Moscow is experiencing a shortage of S-300 missile interceptors, a surface-to-air missile system that has traditionally been a crucial component of Russia's air defenses against cruise and ballistic missiles.
Ukraine's Defense Ministry says it has destroyed 1,454 air defense systems since Russia's invasion in 2022. That includes seven systems destroyed from Friday to Monday, according to data provided by Ukraine's Ministry of Defense and analyzed by CBS News.
"The first task is to quickly and significantly ramp up production of those air defense systems that are most needed," Putin said during the interview Sunday.
The fuel and air defense shortages come as Russian citizens express more willingness to end the war. In a Russian nationwide public opinion survey released Monday by the Institute for Conflict Studies and Analysis of Russia, a Ukrainian think tank, 81% of Russians said they supported ending the war tomorrow, the highest figure since the war began in 2022. The survey polled 1,600 respondents by telephone.
Russia's leader, however, has exhibited little sign of relenting. In his interview, Putin said he had dismissed a Ukrainian proposal for a mutual ceasefire on long-range strikes.
"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 said. "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."