Humiliating Truth of Putin’s Homeland Crisis Exposed

Alexander Kazakov / POOL/AFP via Getty Images The true scale of Vladimir Putin’s economic woes have been revealed following Ukraine’s relentless drone blitz on Russia’s critical infrastructure.

The 73-year-old has been getting a taste of his own medicine over the summer, as thousands of Ukrainian drones pour over the border, demolishing e-commerce warehouses, oil refineries, and other key strategic sectors.

Now, new numbers from data analysis firm Energy Aspects, cited by the Wall Street Journal , have laid bare the extent of the damage.

Since 2020, Russia has consistently processed around 5 million barrels of crude oil per day, often rising closer to 6 million.

This year, that number has tanked, with August’s output as low as 3.8 million barrels.

According to the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies , earnings from the oil and gas industries make up between 30 and 50 percent of the federal government’s total budget revenues, while the oil and gas sector accounts for around 20 percent of Russia’s GDP.

In August last year, Russia was processing an average of 5 million barrels a day, meaning it has suffered a massive drop of almost 1.2 million barrels in a year.

As a result, it is struggling to get a grip on inflation, which is at around the six percent mark despite a target of four percent.

To mitigate the effects, Putin has opted to import oil and gas from elsewhere.

This has included getting it from as far afield as India, while neighbors such as Kazakhstan have stuck to deals to import Russian crude oil, refine it, and then send around 70 percent back to Russia.

“The agreements are that up to 30 percent will remain in Kazakhstan, while the rest will be sent to Russia.

I believe these are normal conditions,” Kazakh Energy Minister Yerlan Akkenzhenov told journalists following the signing of the deal.

Russia’s own official numbers put the price of gas up 19 percent this year, the Journal reports.

In another coping mechanism, it is understood to have banned diesel exports and loosened fuel-quality standards.