Putin says Ukraine 40-day strike campaign cost Russia 1% of GDP
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Russia's President Vladimir Putin said Ukraine damaged about 100 Russian ships during the campaign that began in June, including about 40 in the first two weeks.
PHOTO: AFP
- Putin said Ukrainian strikes caused damage equal to about 1% of Russia's GDP during a 40-day campaign but called it "not critical damage."
- Ukraine damaged around 100 Russian ships and significantly impacted Russia's Black Sea grain exports and refinery operations.
- Putin warned Russia would respond if Ukraine closes Russian airspace to commercial flights with mass drone attacks.
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BISHKEK - Russian President Vladimir Putin said Ukrainian attacks inflicted damage equivalent to about 1 per cent of Russia’s gross domestic product during a 40-day campaign of strikes ordered by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“I think they did cause us real damage,” Putin told reporters at a late-night news conference in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, where he attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit.
“The overall damage, according to our preliminary estimates, was quite substantial – around 1 per cent of GDP. That is not critical damage for us.”
Ukraine damaged about 100 Russian ships during the campaign that began in June, including about 40 in the first two weeks, Putin said.
Only about 10 per cent of Russia’s refineries are left to be repaired after drone attacks, Putin said separately.
Ukraine’s attacks affected Russia’s Black Sea route that handled more than 70 per cent of Russian grain exports, along with shipments of some other commodities, including oil, steel and coal.
Damage from Ukrainian strikes on refineries and Black Sea ports had pushed Russia’s seaborne crude exports down to 3.46 million barrels a day in the four weeks through Aug 23. Three of Russia’s largest grain terminals at the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk halted operations in August after a major drone attack collapsed a loading gallery and damaged multiple silos.
Putin made no reference to attacks on warehouses of e-commerce giants Wildberries and Ozon that have caused billions of dollars of damage to logistics networks.
Zelensky on Sept 1 threatened to effectively close Russian airspace to commercial aviation through mass drone deployments. Putin said Russia would find a way to respond if Ukraine carries out such a move. BLOOMBERG