Putin says Ukrainian strikes on infrastructure causing "problems" for Russia

Kyiv — Russia's President Vladimir Putin acknowledged on Sunday that Ukrainian strikes were causing "problems" for Russia . "As for strikes against critical infrastructure in general, and energy infrastructure in particular, of course these attacks on our infrastructure facilities create problems, that's obvious," Putin said in an interview with Russian journalist Pavel Zarubin. "Right now we're observing a certain shortage, but it's not critical." Ukraine has intensified strikes on Russia recently, targeting energy and logistics infrastructure. Last week it launched one of its heaviest drone assaults on Russia since the start of the war, targeting 12 regions in the neighboring nation as well as its own Crimean Peninsula, which Russia has occupied since 2014. Ukraine's Defense Minister Mikhailo Fedorov said he aims to turn Crimea into "an island," isolating it from the rest of Russia. On Friday, Russian authorities in Crimea announced a state of emergency after halting all fuel sales to civilians in response to Ukrainian attacks earlier in the week. Amid the attacks from Ukraine, Putin said addressing fuel shortages across Russia and shoring up the country's air defenses against Ukrainian attacks were top priorities. Analysts say Ukraine's efforts to eliminate Russian air defense are magnifying the strikes' impact. …