Ukraine's Kostyuk slams IOC decision on Russia
Article excerpt
After advancing to her first Wimbledon semifinal Wednesday, Ukrainian tennis player Marta Kostyuk slammed the IOC's decision to provisionally lift its ban on Russia and recommend that individual sports drop the neutral status for athletes.
Moscow will halt diesel exports until the end of July in an attempt to shield its energy markets from the impact of its war with Ukraine, after a wave of drone attacks in Russia squeezed domestic fuel supplies.
The restrictions are likely to have a knock-on effect on diesel prices in Europe, pushing up costs for farmers, haulers and, ultimately, consumers.
Speaking at a government meeting chaired by President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak announced that Russia had “today introduced a ban on diesel fuel exports” to “increase supplies to the domestic market.” He added that Russia would begin importing petroleum products in July and expand production by using lower-environmental-grade fuels as part of a package aimed at easing domestic shortages.
The export ban followed several days of Ukrainian strikes on Russia’s energy infrastructure.
The timing is not great for Europe. Diesel markets have remained tight since March due to disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz amid the war in Iran. Russia is the world’s second-largest diesel exporter, and while the EU no longer imports Russian diesel directly because of sanctions, a squeeze on Russian exports is likely to ripple through global markets by increasing competition for fuel from elsewhere. That could sustain pressure on fuel costs for diesel-intensive industries on the continent.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday that Ukrainian forces had hit oil facilities in the Saratov region and Tatarstan as part of what he called a campaign of “fully justified” retaliation for Russia’s attacks on Ukraine. “Russians must feel that their state is waging this war,” Zelenskyy wrote on X.
On Tuesday, Gazprom said it was repairing damage to the Krasnodarskaya compressor station serving the Blue Stream pipeline to Turkey after a drone strike. A day earlier, Ukraine targeted Russia’s largest refinery in Omsk, more than 2,500 kilometers from the front line.
Novak had already warned Tuesday that Russia’s fuel market remained under pressure because of peak summer demand and unplanned refinery outages, instructing regional authorities and energy companies to prevent supply disruptions.
The restrictions will remain in place through July 31.