Power outages in Russian-occupied parts of southern Ukraine – Putin acknowledges supply problems

Background: Attacks on the energy infrastructure

At the same time, the effects of Ukrainian drone and missile attacks are being felt on the Russian side. In an interview with Kremlin-aligned state television correspondent Pavel Zarubin late on Sunday evening, Vladimir Putin spoke of supply bottlenecks. Putin said: "A certain shortage is being observed, but not a critical one." He also stated: "It is obvious that attacks on critical infrastructure in general and on energy infrastructure in particular cause problems."

According to the information available, the shortages initially affect the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which has been occupied since 2014, but now also large parts of the Russian regions. At a crisis meeting with government representatives, Putin announced measures to cover the needs of agriculture in particular, and according to one report is considering an export ban on diesel. Information from official Russian and Ukrainian sources regarding the course of the war, shelling, and casualty figures cannot be independently verified in the current situation.

Ukraine has been defending itself against a Russian war of aggression for more than four years. In recent months, it has significantly expanded its attacks, which according to the report are directed primarily against the Russian oil industry. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that two Russian refineries had been attacked overnight. Following a drone attack on a refinery in the southern Russian region of Krasnodar, a fire broke out.

Putin's statements on the supply situation

Meanwhile, Russian attacks on Ukrainian territory continued. In the northeastern border town of Smiiv in the Kharkiv region, one person was killed and eight others injured, including two children, according to Governor Oleh Syniehubov. During the evacuation of residents in another community in the Kharkiv region, a police officer was killed, according to police. In the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, two people were killed and 16 others injured, according to regional governor Ivan Fedorov.

In a drone attack on the roof of a house in Sumy, a woman was injured, and in the Sumy region, which also borders Russia, an elderly woman was killed, according to the regional administration. In total, at least five people were killed in Russian attacks in southeastern and northeastern Ukraine, according to local authorities. In the capital Kyiv, at least two people were injured in a Russian attack overnight. In Russian airstrikes using glide bombs on Sumy, various industrial facilities and a warehouse were severely damaged, according to the Ukrainian emergency service.

Putin assessed the Ukrainian offensive as an attempt to relieve Ukrainian troops along the roughly 1,250-kilometer front line. He pledged to guarantee the "security" of his country in the face of intensified Ukrainian airstrikes on Russian territory. At the same time, he reaffirmed the war aim of fully conquering the four regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia. The rescue of the government in Kyiv is not part of Russian plans.

Impact on both sides

Putin also rejected a Ukrainian proposal for mutual restraint regarding long-range strikes. Ukraine's counterattacks are increasingly putting Moscow under pressure, the report continues. A statement from the Ukrainian Presidential Office was not initially available.

The summarized events of the previous day are dated June 28, 2026, while the news overview is dated June 29, 2026. In the attack on Slavyansk-na-Kubani, one person was killed, according to Governor Veniamin Kondratyev.

Reporting on the situation in the occupied territories and at the front is subject to significant restrictions: statements from both warring parties regarding the course of events, shelling, and casualties can hardly be independently verified. The picture that emerges from the communications of the occupation authorities, the Russian leadership, and Ukrainian sources is therefore a preliminary one.

The incidents make clear that mutual attacks on energy infrastructure are directly affecting the supply of the civilian population on both sides. While the occupation authorities speak of efforts to quickly restore the power grids, pressure on fuel supply is mounting in the Russian regions and in Crimea.