Political analyst says Russia could face food supply disruptions by late summer
Ukraine’s systematic strikes on Russia’s energy, logistics, and industrial infrastructure are already having a noticeable effect and could intensify in the near future.
Political analyst Ihor Reiterovych said this in an interview with Ukrinform while commenting on the impact of the so-called “drone sanctions” on the Russian economy.
According to him, the consequences of the attacks are most evident in the logistics sector, which is unable to efficiently transport cargo over long distances, particularly to Russia’s northern regions.
“Yes, and the effect is very serious. By the end of the summer, Russia could already face problems even with supplying certain regions with food products,” the expert said.
He noted that despite record harvests in recent years, part of Russia’s agricultural output was lost because of transportation and logistics problems.
“In 2023–2024, Russia harvested record crops, but a significant portion simply rotted because there was no way to transport it,” Reiterovych said.
The expert also stressed that Russia is heavily dependent on port and railway infrastructure, particularly for exporting grain and energy resources, and that its vulnerability in this area is one of the reasons for the intense fighting in the southern direction.
According to him, strikes on logistics hubs and processing infrastructure could have a cumulative effect on the Russian economy.
“Russia’s economy is currently being held together by a very fragile balance. They have roughly three days’ worth of oil storage capacity. After that, the oil must either be processed or transported out,” he said.
Reiterovych added that if this cycle is disrupted, Russia could face the need to reduce or halt production, creating additional risks for its energy sector.
“If you knock out the middle link, namely processing, the entire chain begins to collapse,” the expert concluded.
Earlier, weapons expert Ivan Kyrychevskyi of Defense Express and serviceman of the Security Service of Ukraine’s 413th Raid Regiment told Ukrinform that Ukraine’s Defense Forces have significantly expanded their capabilities for long-range strikes on Russian territory, and that this factor is already influencing both Ukraine’s adversaries and its partners. He stressed that Ukraine’s scaling up of Deep Strike operations has become a factor the world is now forced to take into account.
At the same time, he explained that the Armed Forces of Ukraine had been conducting long-range strikes on Russian territory long before the issue attracted global attention.
“Thank God, the question of range has not been an issue in Ukraine for a long time. Our long-range tools were operating two years before the world noticed them. The issue has been scaling up, but as we can see, scaling up is now going well too,” Kyrychevskyi said.