Putin acknowledges economic impact from Ukraine’s refinery strikes

Russian President Vladimir Putin lauded the “heroes” of his military in stepping up a campaign on Ukrainian targets, calling the strikes effective and timely while acknowledging that reciprocal attacks by Ukraine have caused economic damage. Putin made the comments in an interview with state TV reporter Pavel Zarubin, released Saturday. It came as Russia and Ukraine continued to trade strikes on infrastructure facilities, including overnight Ukrainian drone barrages that hit an oil refinery and a warehouse of a major e-commerce company in the Samara region deep within Russia.