Ukraine resumes strikes on Russian refineries as energy ceasefire collapses
Ryazan targeted by 69 drones and four cruise missiles after Kyiv's unilateral pause, record Russian drone swarm kills three in Kirovohrad
Images
A man stands at the site of his parents' house, destroyed during a Russian airstrike Photograph: Reuters
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Wreckage of a Russian jet-powered drone lies inside a crater that appeared at the site of a residential area after a strike in Kyiv. Photograph: Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters
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Ukraine has resumed strikes on Russian oil refineries, ending the unilateral pause it had observed since Donald Trump declared an energy ceasefire last week. "The block on attacking refineries is out. We're done," Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the Financial Times on Wednesday. Overnight the Ryazan refinery was hit, the first such strike since the ceasefire declaration, while Moscow sent a record swarm of drones into central Ukraine, killing three people in the Kirovohrad region.
The ceasefire was Trump's, announced on TruthSocial: "Effective immediately, there is an ENERGY CEASEFIRE in the War between Russia and Ukraine. Both parties have agreed. Do not break it!" Neither Russia nor Ukraine had said any such thing. Ukraine stopped attacking refineries anyway, to show it was ready for negotiations. Russia answered with hypersonic and ballistic missile strikes on key Ukrainian power plants, leaving Kyiv without power and water for hours.
Washington's response to Kyiv's compliance was pressure. The White House threatened to cut weapons programmes and stop sharing battlefield intelligence, a gap Zelenskyy calls "dangerous". He also says Ukraine's defensive capabilities are being "artificially restricted", a reference to sudden limits on the Starlink and Starshield terminals that guide Ukrainian drones. Trump had demanded the refinery attacks stop, arguing they were behind a global rise in diesel prices.
Zelenskyy's accounting of the sequence is blunt: Russia deliberately escalated after receiving sanctions relief and watching Washington lean on Kyiv. His remedy is the one weapon that hits Russian export earnings directly. Regional officials said Ryazan was targeted by 69 drones and four Flamingo cruise missiles; images showed flames at the facility.
In Kirovohrad, a region struck less often than those closer to Russia, more than 360 drones hit overnight, and Governor Andriy Raikovych said the enemy "deliberately hit critical infrastructure, transport enterprises, logistics facilities and residential homes". Zelenskyy counts more than 850 Shahed drones launched against Ukraine. The Russian defence ministry says the fire at Ryazan was started by debris from a drone its own forces shot down.