Welcome to the PDPT, Situation Report.

I'm Mike Baker.

Your eyes and ears on the world stage.

All right.

Let's get brief. First up, Russia's war economy is feeling real strain as deep Ukrainian strikes and new U.S.

sanctions push its oil revenues to two-year lows. We'll be joined by Eddie Fishman

of the Center for New American Securities for more on that. Later in the show, an off-the-cuff remark by new prime minister, Sinai Takichi, has set off the

country's most significant clash with China in years.

Well, off-the-cuff remarks will do that, reshaping diplomatic conversations in Tokyo and

Beijing.

Author Gordon Chang, friend of the show, will stop by to give his insight.

But first, today's situation reports spotlight.

Russia's oil sector is taking some of its hardest blows of the war, and it's happening

on two fronts at the same time. Ukrainian drones and missiles are striking deeper inside

Russia, targeting major refineries that produce the fuel

that Moscow's military depends on. And on the economics side, new U.S. sanctions are prompting

India and China, Russia's most important customers, of course, to sharply cut back purchases

of crude oil from Rosneft and luke oil. The result, oil prices plunging, tankers stacking

up offshore with no buyers, and the Kremlin's weekly revenues falling to their lowest point in

more than two years. It's a moment of real pressure on the backbone of Russia's war economy.

Joining me now for more on this is Edward Fishman. He's an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for

New American Security, where he focuses on the intersection of business, economics, and national

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