Answers to questions from a Russian journalist

Question: Mr President, you have held a meeting with the heads of Russia's largest oil companies to discuss the situation on the fuel market. In your assessment, how much damage are the enemy's strikes on our energy infrastructure and industrial facilities causing?

And another very important issue: what is the situation with energy supplies to Crimea and Sevastopol?

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: As for the attacks on critical infrastructure in general, and energy infrastructure in particular, they are, of course, creating problems. That is obvious. We are currently seeing certain shortages, although they are not critical, as I will explain. There are several tasks we need to address, and we have just discussed them.

The first is to rapidly and significantly increase production of the air defence systems that are most in demand. We must also continue improving them in line with the requirements of combat operations and the protection of key facilities, taking into account the capabilities the enemy is deploying, including the new unmanned aerial vehicles with advanced technologies being supplied from Europe. We already have these defensive systems. The challenge is to accelerate their production and delivery, whether to the armed forces or for the protection of critical infrastructure.

It is also clear what needs to be done to ensure stable fuel supplies and eliminate the temporary shortages that have arisen. Repairs must be completed more quickly, the necessary level of imports must be secured and, as I have already said, these facilities must be reliably protected.

We also need closer coordination among all the agencies and levels of government involved in repelling drone and missile attacks on our infrastructure and, above all, in protecting people. The top priority is safeguarding civilians and minimising damage to the economy, individual industries and industrial production. As I have said, there has been damage, but all affected facilities are being quickly restored, and the problems that arise are not critical. Everything is operating steadily and with a substantial margin of resilience.

As for energy supplies to Crimea, the Minister has informed me that the region's monthly requirement is 70,000 tonnes. Current reserves in Crimea are sufficient for several days, but all demand will be met. We will continue increasing deliveries both overland and by sea. I am confident this task will be accomplished.

More broadly, I would like to stress that the strikes on our civilian infrastructure are intended not only to inflict damage on us - although I believe that is certainly one of the enemy's objectives - but also to fuel an information campaign, or perhaps more accurately, an information operation as part of the broader confrontation with Russia. At a minimum, its purpose is to undermine our confidence in ourselves and our capabilities and, ideally, to create divisions within Russian society, force Russia to suspend, even temporarily, the advance of our forces along the line of contact and create conditions for launching negotiations on terms favourable to our adversary.

We will not give them that opportunity. It is all the more important to understand that these terrorist attacks have no impact whatsoever on the situation at the front. That is the key point. No matter where these strikes are carried out against our infrastructure, they have absolutely no effect on the situation on the frontline, along the line of contact.

To be continued.