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TexasTowelie

(127,957 posts)
Fri May 1, 2026, 05:01 AM Yesterday

It Is Getting Far Worse Than We Thought - Jason Jay Smart



Ukraine is now hitting the oil infrastructure that keeps Putin's war machine operating. Refineries, ports, factories, and deep rear targets are no longer safely behind the front line, and the damage reaches the revenue, fuel, transport, and industry Moscow needs to keep the invasion moving.

Putin's problem is not one isolated strike. His state now has to defend more oil facilities, more export routes, more air-defense gaps, and more territory while sanctions pressure grows and repair costs rise. Every damaged facility weakens the machinery behind Russia's war budget, and every missed defense makes the promise of control harder to believe.

That is why the oil story connects directly to the financial pressure already visible around Russian banks, savings, and state finances. Putin sold Russians stability while sending war into Ukraine. Now the pressure is moving back into the systems that pay for the invasion, and Moscow has to prove it can still fund a long war while Ukraine keeps reaching the machinery Russia needs to function.

CHAPTERS:
00:00 - Intro: Ukraine Destroys Russian War Budget
01:19 - Drone Warfare: Ukraine Drones Expose Russian Gaps
03:24 - Elite Plunder: How Putin Enriches His Cronies
05:27 - Sanction Pressure: US Sanctions Choke Russian Oil
09:03 - Public Panic: Russian Citizens Fear Economic Ruin
10:20 - Bank Ruin: Russia Faces Massive Currency Crisis
11:48 - Kremlin Chaos: FSB Battles for Russian Control
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