Analysis of Russia-Ukraine war developments, China-Russia military cooperation, Xi's Xinjiang visit, Iran sanctions, and North Korea diplomacy (Sept 20-27, 2025).
I truly appreciate the effort and thought you put into these weekly insights. You communicate complex issues with such clarity, and it’s always engaging to read. Thank you for sharing your reflections each week.
There is a variety of ways the oil is exported. In general its difficult to disrupt the overall flow of crude oil to global markets including through a network of shadow fleet vessels. Ukraine’s strategy has been attacking the much smaller number of refineries. Refined oil products are bigger money makers the Kremlin counts on in the state budget. Without the refineries, Russia is forced to sell unrefined oil at major discounts.
I truly appreciate the effort and thought you put into these weekly insights. You communicate complex issues with such clarity, and it’s always engaging to read. Thank you for sharing your reflections each week.
Thank you Zalanda! That really means a lot!
There is a variety of ways the oil is exported. In general its difficult to disrupt the overall flow of crude oil to global markets including through a network of shadow fleet vessels. Ukraine’s strategy has been attacking the much smaller number of refineries. Refined oil products are bigger money makers the Kremlin counts on in the state budget. Without the refineries, Russia is forced to sell unrefined oil at major discounts.