Sberbank restructures loans as Ukraine strikes oil and retail
Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian oil refineries and logistics hubs are pushing the rouble to multi-month lows and straining the balance sheet of Russia's largest lender.
Ukraine’s military general staff and security service announced strikes on two major Russian oil refineries overnight. The targets included a Lukoil facility in the Perm region and a refinery in Ryazan. Together, these plants have a combined annual production capacity of around 220m barrels of oil.
The attacks are rippling through Russia’s financial system, with the rouble weakening by 1.9% against the US dollar on Wednesday. The currency has now fallen 14% against the dollar since 20 May and is also losing ground against the Chinese yuan. This marks the rouble’s lowest level since 3 April.
Russia’s largest lender, Sberbank, is moving to restructure loans and cover losses linked to separate Ukrainian strikes on e-commerce infrastructure. The bank said the credit quality of online retailers had deteriorated after recent attacks on the retailer Wildberries. Roughly 300 companies are now seeking to restructure their debt. Sberbank also lends to Wildberries' rival Ozon, which has so far escaped targeting.
Wildberries evacuated employees from a Ryazan facility following the latest strikes. These long-range attacks fit a broader pattern of Ukrainian disruption, with a senior military official claiming forces hit 201 Russian vessels in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov over the past three weeks.
The economic fallout comes as Europe confronts the information war on its own soil. France has ordered Russian media commentator Xenia Fedorova to leave the country, placing her under house arrest. The interior ministry accused her of acting "as a conduit for disinformation campaigns orchestrated by the Russian authorities" with the aim of "destabilising public order" in France.
Fedorova previously ran the French arm of the now-banned RT network and currently appears on CNews, Europe 1 radio, and in Le Journal du Dimanche. Her lawyer, Emmanuel Piwnica, told AFP she would "immediately" appeal. Canal+, which owns CNews, and Lagardere, owner of Europe 1, issued a joint statement defending democratic debate.
Meanwhile, the centrist Renew group in the European parliament has called for EU sanctions against Fedorova, describing her as a "well-known Russian propagandist". Russia is simultaneously tightening its grip on domestic digital spaces. Authorities charged Pavel Durov, the founder and chief executive of Telegram, with aiding terrorism. The Federal Security Service accused Telegram of failing to remove "numerous channels, chats and bots" allegedly used by Ukrainian agencies against Russia.
