Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukraine will resume long-range strikes on Russian oil refineries, ending a three-day pause he undertook at Washington’s request — a move that effectively collapses the “energy ceasefire” President Donald Trump announced on Sunday.
“The block (on attacking refineries) is out. We’re done,” Zelenskyy told the Financial Times in an interview published Thursday, according to Reuters’ account of the interview.
Strikes resume
Ukrainian drones attacked a major oil refinery in Russia’s Ryazan region early Thursday, regional officials said, in what media reports described as the first Ukrainian strike on a Russian energy facility since Trump’s ceasefire announcement. The region’s governor reported a fire at the plant after a drone attack, and a senior Ukrainian official confirmed the strike.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine had paused its refinery strikes for three days to comply with Washington’s wishes, but that Russia never stopped hitting Ukrainian energy sites during the pause. He said Russian strikes had left 600,000 people without power on Wednesday.
Rift with Washington deepens
The interview laid bare a deepening rift between Kyiv and Washington. Zelenskyy said that during the pause, Ukraine was left without U.S. early-warning alerts for incoming Russian ballistic missiles, while Starlink satellite service was slowed across the country, hampering frontline operations. Ukrainian officials were told by their U.S. counterparts that “if you will not stop (the energy strikes), we will block intelligence” — though it was later presented to Kyiv as a technical glitch, he said. “It was not a technical problem, it was the will,” he told the FT.
Zelenskyy was also critical of Washington’s eagerness to strike business deals with Moscow and of Trump’s apparent admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin, Reuters reported. Trump on Saturday called for Ukraine to replace Zelenskyy and railed against Ukraine’s attacks on Russian oil infrastructure — one day after announcing a diesel supply deal with Russia aimed at easing fuel prices that have soared since the U.S.-Iran war began in February.
Asked whether he would halt the energy strikes to repair relations with the White House, Zelenskyy said he could only agree in exchange for more U.S.-made Patriot interceptors — “the minimum” that would be acceptable.
What it means for ordinary people
The collapse of the truce has direct consequences for civilians on both sides. In Ukraine, continued Russian strikes on the power grid threaten heat and electricity as winter approaches. In Russia, resumed Ukrainian drone attacks on refineries could tighten fuel supplies. Trump has blamed Ukraine’s refinery campaign for pushing up global diesel prices — costs that feed into trucking, farming and the price of everyday goods.
Moscow has not publicly confirmed any energy-ceasefire arrangement. The Kremlin has remained noncommittal about the deal Trump announced on Sunday.
This is a developing story.
Sources: Financial Times; Reuters.
