 Putin hopes for a decrease in support for Ukraine and plans terrible war of attrition. Russian President Vladimir Putin does not intend to cease military aggression against Ukraine and plans for a war of attrition. The Kremlin leader in his expansionist plans hopes for a reduction in support for Kiev from western countries reports Bloomberg. Despite the fact that the Russian occupying contingent cannot break through on the Ukrainian front and is advancing slowly, Putin remains determined to achieve victory on the battlefield despite losses. Against the backdrop of his recent re-election for another six-year term in power, the Kremlin leader is attempting without evidence to accuse Ukraine of alleged involvement in the terrorist attack in Moscow suburbs on March 22nd and to continue the occupation campaign. This comes after previous diplomatic contacts with the United States at the end of last year ended inconclusively according to four experts familiar with Kremlin military strategy. According to US representatives, they see no signs that the Russian President took seriously the search for a way to end hostilities at the end of 2023. They have dismissed the idea of negotiating a ceasefire without Ukraine's involvement. Putin's likely to escalate now. His goal is victory, said Alexei Mukhin, the head of the Moscow-based Center for Political Information, which provides advisory services to the Kremlin. He added that Russia is ready to continue this conflict for as long as necessary. However, according to Bloomberg, Russia may face difficulties in conducting new, large-scale offensives due to a shortage of troops. This could hinder the Kremlin's aspirations to capture cities like Kharkiv and Odessa, especially for attempts to create a buffer zone in Ukraine. I don't believe the takeover of Kharkiv is possible. The Kremlin doesn't have enough forces for such a task, and the city is too big. For a real breakthrough in this war, Russia needs much better communication capabilities, many more high-precision weapons, and many more people. Voiced the head of the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, Ruslan Pukhov. Ukraine's security service and main directorate of intelligence under the Defense Ministry were behind the attack on Russian Niznokansk oil refinery in Tatarstan on Tuesday morning. Ukrainian media reported, with reference to unnamed sources within the intelligence department. A Ukrainian long-range drone hit the primary oil processing facility at the Niznokansk refinery, after which fire broke out there, according to the report. The capacity of this processing unit is 8 million tons of oil, which amounts to 2.6% of the total annual refining of the Russian Federation per year. In addition, this plant is among the five largest refineries in Russia. We continue to work systematically to ensure that Russia has fewer and fewer opportunities to finance the war of aggression against Ukraine. We will continue to cut off oxygen to the gas station country in order to minimize the flow of petrodollars to the military budget of the Russian Federation, the source told media. According to Baza, at least three people were injured at the refinery. This is the Taneco oil refinery in the city of Niznokansk in the Republic of Tatarstan. The region's governor confirmed the attack on the refinery, but in his statement, he did not specify the name of the refinery that was attacked. Russian media has confirmed that Niznokansk oil refinery was hit, while stressing that the technological process was not disrupted. The Russian media also claimed that drones allegedly attacked a hostel in a special economic zone of Alabuga, and that two people were injured during the attack. Ukraine in recent months has stepped up attacks on Russia's oil refiners and a bid to impact Kremlin's highly lucrative trade in refined products. Kiev believes its drone attacks on Russia, the world's second largest oil producer, are justified because Ukraine has suffered large-scale damage to its infrastructure from Russian airstrikes since the start of Russia's full-fledged invasion of the country in February 2022.