Ukraine says Russian documents show 400 oil wells shut, $80 billion budget deficit

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on May 18 that Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service has obtained internal Russian documents showing Moscow's own assessment of severe damage to its oil, banking, and budget sectors from the war — information he said the Kremlin is trying to conceal from its population and the outside world.

Speaking in a statement posted on Telegram and on X, Zelenskyy said a single Russian oil company, which he described as not the largest, has already been forced to shut down around 400 wells. He stressed that restarting wells in Russia is far more difficult than in other oil-producing countries, making the losses substantial. Russian oil refining volumes dropped by at least 10% in the first months of 2026, according to the intelligence data. "We see that our Ukrainian long-range sanctions are truly working," Zelenskyy said, linking the decline to Ukrainian long-range strikes against Russian infrastructure.

Zelenskyy also reported a deepening crisis in Russia's financial system. According to the Foreign Intelligence Service documents, 11 Russian banks are preparing for complete liquidation due to critical financial problems, while another eight banks have accumulated risks they cannot cover without external support. Russia's federal budget deficit has reached almost $80 billion by the fifth month of 2026, Zelenskyy said, adding that a significant number of Russian regional budgets are close to bankruptcy.

The Ukrainian president instructed the head of the Foreign Intelligence Service, Oleh Ivashchenko — also referred to as Oleh Luhovskyi — to prepare part of the information for international partners in a format that would protect intelligence sources. Zelenskyy said Ukraine has recorded Russian attempts to export grain from the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea and to attract investment and technology from democratic countries for Arctic oil and gas projects, as part of broader efforts to bypass sanctions.