Fresh Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy network overnight underscored Moscow’s lack of interest in an energy truce touted by US President Donald Trump, President Volodymyr Zelensky said, reporting at least six energy targets hit as attacks killed civilians and damaged buildings across the country.
Mr Trump, facing pressure over high energy prices ahead of US midterm elections next month, has declared that Ukraine and Russia agreed to stop attacking each other’s energy systems.
But Mr Zelensky said the latest wave of missiles and drones told a different story.
“It is increasingly evident that Russia is unwilling to accept an energy ceasefire proposed by the United States and intends to continue its terrorist air attacks against our people and communities,” Mr Zelensky said on X.
“This is what happens when Russia sees the prospect of higher revenues for its war machine,” he added.
Speaking earlier by video link to a conference in Poland, Mr Zelensky said two of the sites struck by Russian drones were a gas facility and a petrol station.
Mr Trump’s announcement of a purported energy ceasefire came days after he unveiled a deal to buy diesel from Russia — a move Mr Zelensky has criticised as undoing years of Western efforts to isolate Russia’s economy.
Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine had carried out no attacks on Russian refineries overnight
Mr Trump has also urged Ukrainians to remove Mr Zelensky through an election, language that has further strained ties between the two leaders since Mr Trump returned to power in 2025.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee said the remarks were “concerning”.
Ms McEntee is travelling to Luxembourg to join other EU foreign ministers as tensions mount between the Trump administration and Ukraine.
It was the second time in a matter of weeks that Mr Trump has announced an energy ceasefire without confirmation from either side of the war.
European allies of Ukraine have voiced scepticism about any such deal, while doubling down on political support for Kyiv and signing off on the largest package of EU sanctions since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
In recent months, Kyiv has stepped up long-range strikes on Russian oil refineries and logistics hubs — a response, Ukrainian officials say, to more than four-and-a-half years of sustained Russian attacks on cities and repeated winter campaigns aimed at crippling electricity and heating.
Mr Zelensky said Ukraine did not strike Russian refineries overnight and remained ready to accept an energy ceasefire — but only if Russia complied.
He added that elections, paused during wartime, could take place in Ukraine if Moscow agreed to a full ceasefire lasting 60 days.
Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia wants ‘long-term peace’
Russia said discussions were continuing on the possibility of an energy ceasefire, and Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said more details would be provided later.
However, he dismissed Mr Zelensky’s call for a 60-day truce.
“In the Kremlin, both President (Vladimir) Putin and officials at other levels have repeatedly stated that we do not want a ceasefire,” said Mr Peskov.
“We want long-term peace and are prepared to do everything possible to achieve it,” he added.
In Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, rescue crews combed through the wreckage of shattered buildings.
A civilian’s body lay beneath rubble, illuminated by floodlights against the night.
Nataliia Minka said she reached a shelter moments before a missile hit nearby.
She and her child believed they watched a missile strike a nearby power station.
“Ten minutes had passed since they promised they wouldn’t target energy facilities,” she said.
“It’s so hard to describe how a child was lying there, already covered up and the father was running around her, crying and screaming,” she said.
“It’s so terrifying – it’s impossible to get through something like this,” she added.
Municipal officials said the nighttime attacks killed at least three people in Kharkiv, with additional strikes in the morning hitting residential buildings and injuring at least 22 more.
Authorities also reported at least three people killed yesterday in the western city of Ivano-Frankivsk.
Ukraine’s power grid has faced renewed pressure since Russia began its latest strike campaign two weeks ago, triggering daily multi-hour outages in Kyiv that have disrupted water and sewage services and twice forced the capital’s underground trains to stop abruptly.
Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Moscow ‘will only negotiate seriously under pressure’
European Union foreign ministers, aiming to keep up the squeeze on Moscow, added 1,569 names to the sanctions list targeting individuals and businesses.
“This is the single largest expansion of our sanctions list since Russia started its war. Europe is again showing a united front. More than half are connected to the production chain for ballistic missiles,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said.
Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Russia “will only negotiate seriously under pressure, which is why we are sticking to our sanctions against Russia”.
“Following Moscow’s ruthless attacks on Ukraine’s civilian energy infrastructure, we must actually tighten them further,” he added.
Mr Trump has increasingly argued that Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries are driving up global fuel prices, particularly diesel, which has reached record levels in the United States since he launched his military campaign against Iran.
On Saturday, he said Mr Zelensky had “better damn well stop” attacking Russian refineries.
One person familiar with the matter said Washington had threatened to end intelligence-sharing with Ukraine and halt weapons supplies — assistance the United States no longer provides directly to Kyiv but permits European countries to purchase on Ukraine’s behalf.
