--- title: Ukraine’s War on Russian Oil Is Working description: Both countries are ramping up attacks on energy infrastructure. But Russia is more vulnerable as a petrostate, writes Suriya Jayanti. canonical: https://time.com/7332398/ukraine-russia-energy-war-oil-gas/ author: Suriya Jayanti article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-11-10T14:20:08.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-11T00:31:53.892Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Ukraine Can Win the Energy War og:description: A few more targeted hits could cripple Russia's military supply chains and its war economy, writes Suriya Jayanti. og:url: https://time.com/7332398/ukraine-russia-energy-war-oil-gas/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8506617647c01eaa/6998cb7ee2d64b7cddc5fd8f/GettyImages-2193157360.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: RUSSIA-UKRAINE-CONFLICT-US-SANCTIONS-ENERGY og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ukraine Can Win the Energy War twitter:description: A few more targeted hits could cripple Russia's military supply chains and its war economy, writes Suriya Jayanti. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8506617647c01eaa/6998cb7ee2d64b7cddc5fd8f/GettyImages-2193157360.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  IDEAS Time ideas # Ukraine Can Win the Energy War > Sponsored content. 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Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. by [Suriya Jayanti](https://time.com/author/suriya-jayanti/) ## Suriya Jayanti Nov 10, 2025 2:20 PM UTC  A view shows a petrol station of the Russian oil producer Gazprom Neft in Moscow on Jan. 13, 2025. A view shows a petrol station of the Russian oil producer Gazprom Neft in Moscow on Jan. 13, 2025. Natalia Kolesnikova—AFP/Getty Images by [Suriya Jayanti](https://time.com/author/suriya-jayanti/) ## Suriya Jayanti Nov 10, 2025 2:20 PM UTC Ukraine had a bruising weekend. Much of the country faced [between eight and 16 hours of power cuts](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/nov/09/ukraine-facing-widespread-power-cuts-after-generating-capacity-reduced-to-zero-by-russian-attacks) on Sunday following the “[most massive strike](https://www.politico.eu/article/kyiv-targets-russias-energy-supply-after-massive-attack-on-ukraine-power-grid/)” [against](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce3xdg7xrv9o) its power plants since the war began. Yet Kyiv’s [counterattack](https://www.euronews.com/2025/11/09/ukraine-and-russia-trade-overnight-strikes-on-energy-facilities) was also a reminder that Ukraine is waging its own war on Russia’s energy infrastructure, and the pace has only been [accelerating](https://www.foreignaffairs.com/russia/slow-death-russian-oil?check%5Flogged%5Fin=1) in recent months. This campaign could bring President Vladimir Putin’s war effort to a standstill—a few more targeted hits and both the Kremlin’s military supply chains and economy could be sufficiently hobbled to force a peace. In the first few months of 2025, at least [13 Russian refineries](https://time.com/6960377/russia-ukraine-energy-war/) were hit. The [pace of drone strikes](https://www.reuters.com/graphics/UKRAINE-CRISIS/RUSSIA-ENERGY/gdpzbxkgwpw/) has since grown to a blitz, with at least [21 of the largest 38 facilities](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czx020k4056o) damaged as of early October and [38%](https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/10/03/ukrainian-drones-hit-major-oil-refinery-chemical-plant-a90706) of Russia’s primary oil refining capacity down around the same time. Even the Russian attacks over the weekend were precipitated by significant Ukrainian strikes on Thursday that hit [Lukoil’s Volgograd](https://kyivindependent.com/ukraine-reportedly-strikes-russias-volgograd-oil-refinery/) refinery for the sixth time; a power plant in Volgorechensk, 171 mi. northeast of Moscow; and an oil depot in Crimea. Ukraine has been using U.S. intelligence to target high-priority energy facilities in Russia, according to a [report in the _Financial Times_](https://www.ft.com/content/f9f42c10-3a30-4ee1-aff7-3368dd831c8c), which suggests President Donald Trump is serious about forcing Putin into a peace settlement. The campaign is beginning to work. Russia still depends on oil and gas exports for up to [50% of its state budget](https://borgenproject.org/russias-resilient-petrostate/), and exports [dropped an estimated 26%](https://energyandcleanair.org/september-2025-monthly-analysis-of-russian-fossil-fuel-exports-and-sanctions/) in September with many more energy facilities forced offline in October. Gas exports are at a [50-year low](https://reopen.media/en-gb/articles/russian-gas-exports-to-europe-hit-50-year-low) and total oil refining is at a [five-year low](https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/10/12/us-intelligence-helps-ukraine-strike-russian-energy-infrastructure-ft-a90789). Russia has even [instituted export restrictions](https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/09/30/russia-extends-gasoline-export-ban-restricts-diesel-shipments-a90676) as it faces domestic fuel shortages of around 20%. Russians are beginning to feel the effects of the war. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian attacks come as President Trump has announced [U.S. sanctions](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd6758pn6ylo) on Russian oil giants Lukoil and Rosneft. And the E.U. is currently [debating](https://kyivindependent.com/how-europe-plans-to-phase-out-russian-oil-and-gas-explained/) whether and how to fully phase out all Russian fossil fuel imports by the end of 2027\. **Read More:** [_Trump's Sanctions on Russian Oil Are a Big Deal_](https://time.com/7328215/trump-putin-russia-oil-sanctions/) If the E.U. proposal is enacted, it would, alongside impactfulU.S. [sanctions](https://www.cfr.org/in-brief/three-years-war-ukraine-are-sanctions-against-russia-making-difference), be a major step toward forcing the Kremlin to cease fire. Oil and gas revenues have kept the Russian war machine alive despite ever-mounting economic pressure. Indeed, Europe continues to pay Russia [$1.35 billion each month](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/10/3/how-much-of-europes-oil-and-gas-still-comes-from-russia) for oil and gas imports, with the E.U. total since the full-scale invasion began amounting to roughly [$250 billion](https://www.russiafossiltracker.com/). That figure exceeds the $211 billion that the U.S. Department of Defense [estimates](https://www.socialeurope.eu/what-has-been-the-cost-of-ukraines-war-and-who-pays), conservatively, that the Kremlin has spent since the full-scale invasion. None of this is yet existential for the Kremlin or its war in Ukraine. Russia spent many years [stockpiling over $640 billion](https://www.cfr.org/in-brief/three-years-war-ukraine-are-sanctions-against-russia-making-difference) in central bank reserves before the full-scale invasion in order to ride out any Western response, and currently only half of that amount is subject to sanctions. And Russia has an [estimated](https://carnegieendowment.org/russia-eurasia/politika/2025/10/russia-refinery-damages?lang=en)20-30% buffer of unused capacity at its refineries—which it could tap into at higher prices if global markets remain jittery over oil and gas. Nor are Russia’s latest attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure isolated events. Strikes on power plants, transmission lines, and substations have caused frequent and widespread [blackouts](https://united24media.com/latest-news/ukraines-electricity-imports-triple-in-october-as-russia-escalates-energy-strikes-13086) in recent weeks. And for the first time, Putin’s forces have systematically targeted Ukraine’s natural gas facilities—the country has now lost as much as 60% of its natural gas production. Ukraine’s winter storages will be tapped out before the end of cold weather. Even more urgently, Ukraine’s natural gas pipeline network doesn’t have enough gas to maintain the system’s pressurization, so it has turned to [costly imports](https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/energy/1285838/ukraine-imports-gas-via-balkans-from-greece-to-keep-system-running-after-russian-strikes/), including from Greece, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia. But whereas Ukraine is a welcome trading partner for its neighbors, Russia is a petro-state subject to broad energy sanctions by the West. Its very strength—fossil fuels—is thus also its greatest vulnerability. So, if Ukraine can sustain its attacks on Russian refineries, pipelines, petroleum ports, and related infrastructure, it may be able to bleed the Kremlin dry—or at least dry enough to force Putin into real peace negotiations. If the U.S. enforces the new sanctions, and the E.U. actually phases out Russian energy, the Kremlin has very few options to replace the lost revenue. The recent [deal](https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/russias-pipeline-deal-with-china-seen-taking-decade-boost-exports-2025-10-07/) with China to build another natural gas pipeline will take years to be realized, and India is now [curtailing](https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/indian-refiners-review-russian-oil-contracts-after-us-sanctions-source-says-2025-10-23/) its significant Russian oil imports—after it faced Trump’s wrath and [punitive 50% tariffs](https://www.cnbc.com/2025/11/07/india-us-russian-crude-modi-trump-tariffs-new-delhi-visit.html). If Ukraine can keep the pressure up, it can sufficiently undermine the Russian budget to have a chance at ending the war. If President Zelenksy pulls this off, it may prove one of the more brilliant military strategies in history. And if President Trump supports it, he will rightfully be able to take credit for ending Russia’s war in Ukraine—he may even become a serious contender for that [elusive Nobel Prize](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c7842qg15p6o). [TIME Ideas](https://www.time.com/ideas) hosts the world's leading voices, providing commentary on events in news, society, and culture. We welcome outside contributions. 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