Ukraine struck deep inside Russian territory this week and its strategic shift toward direct attacks on Russia’s beleaguered energy sector may be tipping the scales in the four-year-old war, experts say.
“This summer we’ve really seen a bit of the turning of the tide on the progress of the war, with Ukraine really clearly taking the lead,” said Mai’a Cross, dean’s professor of political science, international affairs and diplomacy at Northeastern University.
Monday’s attack on Nizhnekamsk, a vital petroleum hub some 550 miles east of Moscow, resulted in 13 deaths, including a child, and dozens of injuries, according to the city’s mayor, who detailed casualties in a Telegram post. Ukrainian officials said the intended target was the massive TANECO oil refinery.
The attack follows a wave of strikes on Russian energy and logistics facilities, including on warehouses in the Moscow and Tambov regions that service the Russian online marketplace Wildberries, often compared to the U.S.-based Amazon.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has touted the strategy as a way to put economic pressure on Moscow to end the war.
