Forty days after Zelensky launched his ‘influence operation’ against Russia, what did it achieve?

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on June 25 that Kyiv was launching a 40-day “influence operation” against Russia, naming the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) as the agency responsible for carrying it out.

Zelensky did not detail what the operation would involve, but described its goal as “prompting the aggressor state to end the war.”

Ukraine: struck at least 20 Wildberries warehouses, hit at least 25 oil refineries and other oil and gas infrastructure facilities — knocking out a third of Russia’s oil refining capacity — and carried out at least 200 attacks on tankers and cargo ships in the Black and Azov seas.

Russia: escalated ballistic missile bombardment of Ukraine. Russia launched 381 missiles in July, according to Ukrainian data — more than in any single month since the war began.

Peace talks: have not begun. The Kremlin continues to publicly insist that “the goals of the SVO” (whatever those may be) will be achieved. Ukraine’s presidential office says the “influence operation” will persist, stating: “Don’t get hung up on all these arguments: 40, 50, 100, 15 days. What matters is the result.”

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