Ukraine’s Defence Ministry released a statement on April 2, 2026, headlined ‘Hellish strikes on Russia: the Defence Forces of Ukraine hit five strategic plants and ten oil refining facilities in March’. The statement, which listed the Russian oil installations Ukraine had attacked, said, “each such strike on Russia was part of a systematic effort to dismantle the enemy’s war machine”.

Ever since the U.S. temporarily waived off sanctions on Russian oil in March in the wake of a global oil crisis following its attack on Iran, Ukraine has been wary of the gains its adversary would make.

In March, Kyiv stepped up attacks on Russian refineries, hoping to limit the windfall Moscow is now reaping from high crude oil prices. The Ukrainian Defence Ministry called the campaign “one of the largest in terms of the number of strategic enterprises struck”.

According to a New York Times report, “The most significant strikes have hit Russia’s Baltic ports of Ust-Luga and Primorsk, which handle roughly 40% of the country’s seaborne crude exports. Local authorities reported damage at both ports, and the number of tankers loading oil there has plummeted…”

While the Ukrainian Defence Ministry said that “blocking oil and petroleum product exports via the Baltic Sea deprives the Russian budget of billions of dollars that are directly converted into missiles and ammunition”, the NYT report said that the “reality is more complicated”.

“[This is]…because Russia taxes oil extraction, not oil sales. That means striking ports and tankers hurts companies selling and shipping the oil, but could leave the government’s revenue nearly intact,” the report said.

Hitting Russia’s oil exports can drive up global prices in a market strained by Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz and benefit Russia. “Russia’s tax rate on oil extraction is tied to market prices, so higher prices equal higher government revenue,” the report said.

Ukraine’s plan

Attacking refineries to choke Russia’s oil economy has always been a part of Ukraine’s strategy in the conflict that has been raging since 2022. On February 24, 2026, its Defence Ministry released ‘War plan: our steps to force Russia into peace’, which said that Russia is continuing to fight because it has the money.

“The source (of the money) is oil. Russia sells it all over the world through the so-called ‘shadow fleet’. This is the very budget that finances the war. If this channel is blocked, the resources for war will sharply decrease,” it said. The Ministry listed strengthening sanctions, a strategy to counter the shadow fleet and joint action with partners at sea among steps to execute the plan.

The NYT report quoted an expert and said that “strikes in the last week of March had cost Russia more than $500 million in damage to oil storage facilities and reduced export revenues for Russian companies by $745 million”, but added that the figures could not be independently verified.

Russian war chest

On March 13, 2026, after the U.S. sanctions waiver on Russian oil, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that allowing Moscow to sell crude oil was “not the right decision”. “This easing alone by the United States could provide Russia with about $10 billion for the war,” he had said. “This certainly does not help peace.”

According to figures published by the Russian Ministry of Finance on April 3, 2026, Moscow’s revenue from oil and gas has jumped from 432.3 billion roubles ($5.49 billion) in February 2026 to 617 billion roubles ($7.84 billion) in March. In January, it was 393.3 billion roubles ($4.99 billion).

India, one of its prime buyers, has increased the import of Russian crude by 90% in March compared to February. And the Kremlin, on Tuesday (April 7), boasted how the world is lining up for Russian crude.

“Now that the world ​has confidently embarked on the path of a ⁠rather serious economic and energy crisis, which is growing day ‌by day, the market and market conditions in the field of energy and energy resources have completely changed,” Reuters quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov ‌as saying.

“There are a huge ​number of requests for the purchase of ⁠our energy resources from alternative sources. ⁠We are negotiating, we are negotiating in such ‌a way that this situation best suits our interests.” And not that of Ukraine.

Published – April 07, 2026 05:59 pm IST

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar meeting First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Dennis Manturov, in New Delhi on Thursday, April 2, 2026.
| Photo Credit: ANI

Anuj Jain, Director of Finance, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. Photo: Facebook/Indian Oil Corporation Ltd.

New Delhi:

India – one of the world’s biggest consumers of crude oil – does not have a “political strategy” that informs its purchases, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said Friday at a press conference in Kyiv, shortly after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Ukraine leader Volodymyr Zelensky.

Responding to a question about India overtaking China in the import of Russian crude – sale of which had been sanctioned by the West following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 – Mr Jaishankar also pointed to the volatile nature of the global crude oil market.

“India is a big oil consumer… we are a big oil importer because we don’t have oil. Now, it is not like there is a political strategy to buy oil… there is an oil strategy to buy oil… there is a market strategy.”

“So the figures of where we import oil from will go up and down… it depends on the market. But definitely, I think it depends, or is decided by, a tight market… one in which big supplies, like Iran and Venezuela, who used to supply to India, are now constrained from operating freely,” he said.

“This is a factor that needs to be taken into account,” Mr Jaishankar, who has repeatedly defended India’s continuing purchase of Russian crude following the war in Ukraine, responded in Kyiv.

“We explained to Ukraine (the current) market scenario. The fact that many producers have been sanctioned makes the market very tight,” he had said earlier, in response to another question, stressing “it is in the interest of the world economy that oil prices remain reasonable and stable.”

However, analysts this morning said global oil prices remain “vulnerable to demand fluctuations” on the back of “weak manufacturing data from Europe, Asia, and the United States”.

In February too Mr Jaishankar – who has also called out Western nations for continuing to buy from Russia in the war’s early phases – reaffirmed India’s stance on buying Russian oil despite sanctions.

“What should we have done? In many cases Middle East suppliers gave priority to Europe because of higher prices. So either we would have had no energy… or we would have ended up paying a lot more because you (European nations) were paying more,” he told German daily Handelsblatt.

Mr Jaishankar then had argued that India had “in a certain way, stabilised the (global) energy market”. Indian consumers, he said, simply could not afford high prices charged by the Middle East.

READ | “Russia Never Hurt Our Interests”: S Jaishankar To German Daily

“If no one bought crude oil from Russia, and everyone bought crude oil from other countries, the prices on the energy market would have shot up even further,” he told the German publication.

Prior to the war in Ukraine, India rarely purchased Russian crude due to high freight costs. By 2023, though, Moscow was selling about 1.66 million barrels per day, up from less than 700,000 in 2022.

India – the world’s third-biggest oil importer and consumer, became the biggest buyer of seaborne Russian crude since the West halted purchases and imposed sanctions against Moscow.

India has paid for this crude in rupees, dirhams and Chinese yuan.

In May, multiple sources told Reuters Reliance Industries, the operator of the world’s biggest refining complex, had signed a one-year deal with Russia’s Rosneft to buy at least three million barrels of oil per month, with payment to be made in roubles.

READ | Reliance To Buy 3 Million Barrels Of Russian Oil Per Month: Report

The payment in roubles part was seen as key as it would allow Moscow to circumvent an additional set of sanctions against payments routed through Western banks and financial institutions.

READ | Indian Refiners Buy More US Crude Amid Tighter Russia Sanctions

The West has made several efforts to bring India on board its sanctions train; in April the United States sent officials to urge Delhi to maintain a price cap designed to limit Moscow’s profits.

NDTV is now available on WhatsApp channels. Click on the link to get all the latest updates from NDTV on your chat.

New Delhi:

India – one of the world’s biggest consumers of crude oil – does not have a “political strategy” that informs its purchases, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said Friday at a press conference in Kyiv, shortly after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Ukraine leader Volodymyr Zelensky.

Responding to a question about India overtaking China in the import of Russian crude – sale of which had been sanctioned by the West following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 – Mr Jaishankar also pointed to the volatile nature of the global crude oil market.

“India is a big oil consumer… we are a big oil importer because we don’t have oil. Now, it is not like there is a political strategy to buy oil… there is an oil strategy to buy oil… there is a market strategy.”

“So the figures of where we import oil from will go up and down… it depends on the market. But definitely, I think it depends, or is decided by, a tight market… one in which big supplies, like Iran and Venezuela, who used to supply to India, are now constrained from operating freely,” he said.

“This is a factor that needs to be taken into account,” Mr Jaishankar, who has repeatedly defended India’s continuing purchase of Russian crude following the war in Ukraine, responded in Kyiv.

“We explained to Ukraine (the current) market scenario. The fact that many producers have been sanctioned makes the market very tight,” he had said earlier, in response to another question, stressing “it is in the interest of the world economy that oil prices remain reasonable and stable.”

However, analysts this morning said global oil prices remain “vulnerable to demand fluctuations” on the back of “weak manufacturing data from Europe, Asia, and the United States”.

In February too Mr Jaishankar – who has also called out Western nations for continuing to buy from Russia in the war’s early phases – reaffirmed India’s stance on buying Russian oil despite sanctions.

“What should we have done? In many cases Middle East suppliers gave priority to Europe because of higher prices. So either we would have had no energy… or we would have ended up paying a lot more because you (European nations) were paying more,” he told German daily Handelsblatt.

Mr Jaishankar then had argued that India had “in a certain way, stabilised the (global) energy market”. Indian consumers, he said, simply could not afford high prices charged by the Middle East.

READ | “Russia Never Hurt Our Interests”: S Jaishankar To German Daily

“If no one bought crude oil from Russia, and everyone bought crude oil from other countries, the prices on the energy market would have shot up even further,” he told the German publication.

Prior to the war in Ukraine, India rarely purchased Russian crude due to high freight costs. By 2023, though, Moscow was selling about 1.66 million barrels per day, up from less than 700,000 in 2022.

India – the world’s third-biggest oil importer and consumer, became the biggest buyer of seaborne Russian crude since the West halted purchases and imposed sanctions against Moscow.

India has paid for this crude in rupees, dirhams and Chinese yuan.

In May, multiple sources told Reuters Reliance Industries, the operator of the world’s biggest refining complex, had signed a one-year deal with Russia’s Rosneft to buy at least three million barrels of oil per month, with payment to be made in roubles.

READ | Reliance To Buy 3 Million Barrels Of Russian Oil Per Month: Report

The payment in roubles part was seen as key as it would allow Moscow to circumvent an additional set of sanctions against payments routed through Western banks and financial institutions.

READ | Indian Refiners Buy More US Crude Amid Tighter Russia Sanctions

The West has made several efforts to bring India on board its sanctions train; in April the United States sent officials to urge Delhi to maintain a price cap designed to limit Moscow’s profits.

NDTV is now available on WhatsApp channels. Click on the link to get all the latest updates from NDTV on your chat.