Russia defies Trump by continuing attacks on Ukrainian energy sites
Ukraine’s president claims Russia has struck six energy plants in his country, just hours after Donald Trump’s surprise announcement of an “energy ceasefire” between the two nations.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy says his government is willing to halt attacks on Russia’s power plants and oil refineries, but Moscow has continued its onslaught.
A car burns following a Russian strike on a residential neighbourhood in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Sunday, October 11, AP Photo/Andrii Marienko
Firefighters extinguish a fire after a Russian attack on a Kharkiv apartment block. Ukraine media
“Ukraine has supported the energy ceasefire. Our position is absolutely clear: Ukraine is ready to guarantee the energy ceasefire, as announced by the American President, and Russia must take corresponding steps,” Zelenskyy wrote in an X post on Monday (Tuesday AEDT).
Earlier, speaking at the Warsaw Security Forum in Poland, Zelenskyy said Ukraine had been “horribly surprised” that Moscow struck a power plant in the northeastern city of Kharkiv, as well as a gas production facility and a civilian gas station hours after Trump announced the purported “energy ceasefire”.
In an interview with Fox News on Monday, the Ukrainian president said his government had refrained from striking Russian energy sites since Trump’s announcement Sunday.
He said 33 people had been injured in the strikes on energy facilities across the country.
Zelenskyy described the energy ceasefire as “a good first step” toward ending the war that has been raging since February 2022.
President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speaks to the audience via an online video call during the opening ceremony at the Warsaw Security Forum on Monday, October 12. Getty Images
But, he said, “I’m not sure that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin is ready.”
“Even after yesterday’s messages from (Trump) ... Putin attacked our gas infrastructure,” Zelenskyy said.
Trump’s brief social media post on Sunday offered few details but said the energy ceasefire took effect immediately, adding: “Do not break it!”
On Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov wouldn’t say whether Russia had agreed to such a ceasefire, saying only: “Contacts are ongoing.”
Trump has blamed Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy infrastructure for pushing up American diesel prices ahead of the US midterm elections.
But Zelenskyy told Fox News the American president was wrong and highlighted the impact of the US-Iran war on world energy markets.
“Everybody understands that the prices on diesel (don’t) depend on our attacks on diesel in Russia,” he said. “Everybody understands that it depends on the blocking (of the) Strait of Hormuz.”
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