Ukrainian military strikes on Russian oil refineries caused damage, but following Russia’s retaliatory attacks, Kiev no longer has a steel industry, President Vladimir Putin said during the plenary session of the 23rd meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club.

“They began striking oil refineries and openly declared their goal: to inflict damage on our economy. They partially achieved their goal because, according to our estimates, we lost approximately 1% of our GDP. And this was done deliberately - these were civilian targets. Well, they received a tit-for-tat response,” the Russian leader said.

“We began striking targets that are important to their economy. Now, by their own admission, they effectively have no steel industry,” Putin emphasized.