Furious Putin attempts to quell panic in Russia as Ukraine hits two dozen oil tankers on top as well as refineries in just one week

Published: 09:55, 9 July 2026 | Updated: 09:55, 9 July 2026 A furious Vladimir Putin has admitted to his ministers that Ukraine is seeking to sow panic over his rule with relentless strikes on oil refineries, depots and tankers. He desperately sought to claim that widening economic disruption is 'temporary', denying that the Kyiv onslaught would break him. It comes after Ukraine overnight hit two more major oil hubs with smoke gushing from depots in Tver as well as Mikhailovsk, in the Stavropol region, after new failures by Russian air defences. The number of oil tankers hit by Ukrainian drones has now reached two dozen this week, paralysing supplies to annexed peninsula Crimea. Five more were reported to have been hit and set ablaze overnight in the Azov Sea. Two were struck in Taganrog Bay, admitted Putin's top official in Rostov region, Yuri Slyusar. Dramatic footage shows a Sea Baby marine drone dodging intense incoming Russian fire to strike oil tanker Blue in the Black Sea off Crimean port Yalta. The electricity 'interconnector' linking Crimea to Russia via undersea cables has been hit, along with 50 energy facilities on the peninsula, according to Ukrainian sources. Dramatic footage shows a Sea Baby marine drone dodging intense incoming Russian fire The drone strikes oil tanker Blue in the Black Sea off Crimean port Yalta A furious Vladimir Putin has admitted to his ministers that Ukraine is seeking to sow panic over his rule The major oil depot strikes in Russia overnight were at Tvernefteprodukt in Tver region and LUKOIL-Yugnefteprodukt depot in Mikhailovsk, Stavropol region. Amid Ukraine's turnaround in the war, Putin sought to reassure his ministers in a key televised meeting aimed at reassuring the public. The Kremlin dictator said: 'It's absolutely obvious that the enemy [Ukraine] is trying to damage the economy, but most importantly, it seeks to create an atmosphere of anxiety in society.' He insisted that 'this goal is unattainable', claiming - against the evidence of filling station queues across his country, and a feared collapse of the agricultural sector - that 'resilience of Russia's energy system is very high, one of the highest in the world'. Putin failed to explain why Russians are forced to wait days in lines to buy rationed petrol in a major oil-producing country. He made out there was only 'temporary' disruption, triggering doubts about whether he understood the crisis engulfing him due to his refusal to halt the war. With fuel prices soaring, and millions of vacations to blockaded Crimea cancelled, one pro-war fanatic asked in response: 'I wonder how the situation will normalise?' A previous Ukrainian drone onslaught overnight on Tuesday took out two giant Kremlin energy complexes in Nizhnekamsk and Saratov, both engulfed by infernos.  A military airfield was also set ablaze at Borisoglebsk in Voronezh region and 19 tankers were hit. It was confirmed that the country's largest refinery in Omsk, Siberia, was the latest to halt production following an audacious long-range attack. Meanwhile, Fights are breaking out at petrol stations across Russia as repeated Ukrainian strikes on oil facilities and logistics hubs disrupt fuel supplies. Shortages of petrol and diesel are paralysing Russia with gargantuan queues at filling stations where prices are spiralling, and people are losing patience. One Telegram video appears to show two pairs of men trading punches outside a petrol station as a shocked onlooker films the brawl, saying: 'It's so scary to live like this.' Another clip shows a woman yanking a petrol pump away from a motorcyclist accused of jumping the queue. 'I've been waiting an hour,' he protests, prompting others nearby to shout back: 'We've been here for four hours!' The latest videos join a growing stream of footage from across Russia over recent weeks, showing ordinary people from Moscow to Crimea brawling over dwindling fuel supplies. Other clips show motorists throwing punches at petrol pumps, while one video appears to capture a man pulling a gun on someone accused of queue-jumping. In another incident, the confrontation escalated so dramatically that a woman was left with a bloodied nose after allegedly being punched by an impatient man. The chaos comes as a European state intelligence report recently revealed that Russia risks an 'explosive' banking crisis. The two-page report also revealed that half a million Russians went bankrupt last year.  A woman walks in a park as smoke billows in the background following a reported Ukrainian drone attack, in Moscow, Russia While Russia's banks have mostly weathered the sanctions imposed since Moscow's 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the June report says deteriorating loans and growing household indebtedness create an 'explosive' risk, just as the EU prepares a 21st package of sanctions it hopes to finalise in July, targeting banks and cryptocurrency networks. The Russian central bank declined to comment on the assessment, although it has recently played down the risks of a major banking crisis. With the cost of a four-year war with Ukraine draining state coffers, Russia has increasingly leant on banks to support companies and borrowers. The report says this has lumbered banks with risks, as the economy teeters. The Economy Ministry cut its gross domestic product​ growth forecast to 0.4 per cent in 2026 from 1.3 per cent previously and to 1.4 per cent in 2027 from 2.8 per cent. The intelligence report, titled 'Note on the probability of a banking crisis in Russia in 2026', said banks have been pushed to give subsidised loans to defence companies, homebuyers and others. It noted that state-backed credit programmes, loan restructurings and government support masked the banks' vulnerability. 'The situation creates the illusion of a dynamic economy that, in reality, conceals an explosive situation which an economic shock, such as an ambitious package of sanctions against banks ... could trigger,' said the report. Lending to defence firms, regional state-backed projects and homeowners has increased the amount of loans that may never be repaid, the authors said.