Speaking at the agency's weekly briefing on Friday, Col. Ants Kiviselg said Ukraine had struck multiple oil refineries well inside Russia since July 10, significantly reducing production.

Media reports have shown queues at gas stations across the country.

"Although the Russian authorities are trying to publicly portray the energy crisis as a temporary phenomenon that will pass quickly, the damage inflicted by Ukraine is extensive and will persist for a long time," Kiviselg said

"Growing social tensions in Russian society and the visibly declining popularity of Putin's regime could significantly affect the course of Russia's State Duma elections, even in the context of widespread electoral fraud and manipulation," he continued.

"As a result, a power vertical with increasingly narrow legitimacy will have to resort to ever more totalitarian and increasingly repressive measures to maintain control."

Ukraine strikes 150 Russian vessels

Kiviselg also highlighted Ukraine's attacks on Russian vessels in the Sea of Azov and Kerch Strait area.  

"Ukraine's efforts to neutralize air defense systems in occupied Crimea and Donbas have opened such a broad window of operational freedom that, in effect, Ukraine was able to eliminate Russia's freedom of navigation in the Sea of Azov within just four days," he told the press conference.

"Ukraine's nearly two-week-long Operation Molotshka has now struck around 150 vessels operating in the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait area, rendering the region entirely unusable for Russia."

Ukraine's use of uncrewed surface vessels against shadow fleet tankers means that Russia has been forced to stop using the Sea of Azov and must now use the Black Sea shipping routes while facing "increased risks", the colonel said.

"Ukraine has also forced Russia to publicly acknowledge the need to redirect its commercial flows to other modes and routes of transport," Kiviselg said.

The extent of the "pain" inflicted on Russia's economy and on the decisions of its political leadership is reflected in Russia's response, which has taken the form of retaliatory actions, carrying out long-range strikes on three consecutive days not only against Kyiv but also against the port infrastructure of Odesa and vessels entering the port."

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