Russia plans to expand exploitation of resources in Ukraine's occupied territories, Zelensky says
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Russia plans to expand its exploitation of resources, including grain and minerals, in Ukraine's occupied territories, President Volodymyr Zelensky said May 6.
"In the southern Ukrainian lands currently under occupation, Russia plans to implement the same processes of looting and deindustrialization that it carried out in the captured Donbas region," Zelensky said in a Telegram post.
"We have clear documents regarding Russia's plans to use our temporarily occupied territory," Zelensky noted after receiving a report from Oleh Ivashchenko, head of Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR).
Russia exports stolen Ukrainian grain, engaging in systematic seizure from occupied territories and orchestrating shipments through various networks since the start of the full-scale war in 2022.
On May 5, Ukraine condemned Egypt for allowing 26,900 tons of stolen Ukrainian grain to be unloaded at one of its ports, in the fourth such case reported since April.
"The occupiers are also planning further measures to seize and export this year's grain harvest. We are preparing to resist this," Zelensky said.
"There are plans to conduct geological exploration, rapid extraction, and export of valuable raw materials from at least 18 deposits, namely: titanium, lithium, tantalum, niobium, zircon, molybdenum, and graphite," he said.
Amid Ukrainian strikes on Russian military infrastructure, Zelensky also noted that "Russia's internal assessment" of Ukrainian long-range strikes reflects their increased impact.
"The direct damages and the consequences of production and export process disruptions in Russia are increasing, and this is having a particularly negative impact on the budgets of Russian regions. The virtual bankruptcy of a significant portion of Russian regional budgets cannot be concealed."
Ukraine struck the Tuapse oil refinery in southern Russia's Krasnodar Krai four times in a month, including a strike overnight on May 1, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the General Staff confirmed.
Ukraine previously confirmed attacks on Tuapse on April 16, 20, and 28.
Kyiv considers energy facilities to be valid military targets, as the energy sites provide fuel and funding for the Kremlin's war machine.
