Ukraine’s Version of Sanctions
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, Ukraine has shown amazing grit, courage, and determination as its people united to defend their country. Now, they are also displaying astounding creativity by being the first military to develop sophisticated drone warfare in an ongoing conflict.
Rather than wait for sanctions and other means to contain the aggressor, Ukraine is developing its own “sanctions” against Russia by systematically destroying the Russian oil and gas industry. As a result of the creativity in creating their own weapons, the Ukrainians are not required to obtain approval from anyone. Supposedly, President Zelensky told President Trump about these capabilities, who then declared that Ukraine is in a position to fight and win back all of Ukraine. This was a significant departure from the previous statements made by the American Administration.
The Ukrainian military is using its own manufactured drones to hit targets deep inside Russia. Some military experts believe that if Ukraine can continue to hit so many refineries and pipelines, it can do enough damage to force the Russians to come to the negotiating table. The use of drones is not new in this war. It took Ukraine some time to understand the technology and how to utilize it effectively.
Here is the backstory on how the drone program became so effective for Ukraine. At the beginning of this war, the Ukrainians received some American drones under a program called the “Phoenix Ghost”. After careful study and use on the battlefield, the Ukrainians discovered the American drones were susceptible to Russian jamming. Another drawback of using American drones was the restrictions imposed by the Biden Administration on their use. The Ukrainian military discovered boxes of these drones stored in a warehouse and learned how to operate them by watching YouTube videos. Notwithstanding these limitations, the American drones did inspire the creation of a drone program in Ukraine.
The Ukrainians concluded that they needed to produce their own drones by creating a domestic drone research and development program. The pieces all started to come together about a year ago when the Ukrainian military began to receive mass numbers of Ukrainian-made drones. Once these production lines were in place, the Ukrainians were not at the mercy of technology developed in other countries. As a result of both new technology and expanded capacity, the number and effectiveness of attacks inside Russia increased significantly. These attacks have disrupted airports and hit weapons and storage depots inside Russia.
An important takeaway from this war is that the Ukrainian military, early on, realized that the deaths of their soldiers do not deter the Russians. They have seen firsthand that Russia can sustain extremely high levels of casualties and the loss of human lives. They do not care about human life, but it is painful for them to lose money. The only way Putin is allowed to stay in power is that the Oligarchs still have access to their financial resources. The Russian Government needs money to fund the oligarchy, as well as to pay its soldiers and pensioners. Therefore, the natural conclusion drawn by the Ukrainians is to reduce the amount of funds available to the Russian government. This is how the oil and gas sector became the most important target in this war.
The result: Russian oil and gas exports are now at their lowest level since the war began, and the Russians are experiencing significant shortages at home. Outside observers have verified that more than 20% of Russian refining capacity has been destroyed or severely damaged. Gas stations are closed or supplies have been severely diminished in areas across the country, including the suburbs of Moscow and St. Petersburg.
The Ukrainians are tired of waiting for President Trump to impose new sanctions on Russia, and it is obvious that the Europeans are limited in what they can or will do. The Ukrainians have discovered that the most effective sanctions and the ones that work the fastest are the direct drone strikes on Russia’s refineries, its storage depots, and pipelines. In the absence of a reliable American policy and the Europeans’ hesitancy, the Ukrainians will pursue their own sanctions by destroying the only export that Russia can rely on to fund this war. If there is no oil to export, then Russia cannot survive this war, and who cares if China or India is willing to buy Russian oil?
In my view, Europeans should seek ways to get as close to the Ukrainian military as possible, as they are the most potent fighting force on the European continent. Just think, this war was supposed to be over in a week or less. Or so Putin thought?
My last word – the people of the former Soviet Union Republics, with whom I have lived and worked, do more with less than any other people I have been around.
Slava Ukraine!
Prepared by Terry L. Stroud – October 2025
