According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Russia has carried out 76 targeted attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities and the oil and gas sector since the energy truce announced by US President Donald Trump. Zelenskyy said this on Sunday, 18 October, as reported by Radio Svoboda and the Kyiv Independent. In the night to Sunday alone, substations were hit in the Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi and Odesa regions, “tens of thousands of families are left without electricity”, the president said.
According to him, residential buildings were also shelled during the night. As of the morning: twelve injured, including two children, and two dead. In the morning, an agricultural company in the Volyn region was also hit. Rescue and repair services were working on site and around the clock to restore supply, Zelenskyy said.
Almost 2,700 drones in one week
For the past week, the president gave concrete figures: almost 2,700 attack drones, 1,700 aerial bombs and 66 missiles had been fired at Ukraine by the Russian army, most of them ballistic missiles. “The main targets of these attacks are precisely the energy facilities; the Russians are trying to bring about a blackout,” Zelenskyy said.
He addressed Washington directly: “And America must see that Russia is not taking a single step towards us in response to the lifting of sanctions or agreements.” Every signal about an opportunity to earn money is read in Moscow as proof “that betting on war works and that one can continue waging war”. “It is precisely because of this attitude of Russia that the war continues, and not because Ukraine is defending itself rightly,” the president said. “Pressure must be exerted on Russia so that peace has a chance.”
Trump announced the truce, Moscow stayed silent
Trump had announced the energy truce on 11 October on social networks; it was to take effect immediately. The scope remained unclear; Moscow did not confirm the announcement. The Kremlin stated on 14 October that the extent of the truce had not been defined, while attacks on the Ukrainian power grid continued. Ukraine declared itself ready for a comprehensive energy ceasefire provided Russia does the same.
At the same time, Kyiv came under pressure: according to consistent reports, Washington threatened to suspend the exchange of intelligence information and weapons purchases if Ukraine continued to attack Russian oil refineries. Zelenskyy later confirmed that the US government had announced a possible end to intelligence cooperation. On 15 October he told the “Financial Times” that Ukraine was resuming attacks on Russian refineries: “The ban is lifted. We have enough.” For three days Ukraine had not struck Russian energy infrastructure in order to accommodate Washington – while Russia continued its attacks. According to Zelenskyy, more than 100 people died this week as a result of Russian attacks.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas defended the Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries at the EU summit in Brussels: “The bulk of Russia’s war financing comes from oil revenues.” It was the right way to cut off Russia’s financing of the war. “We must put pressure on Russia so that it ends the war – and not on Ukraine so that it capitulates,” Kallas said, according to Handelsblatt. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called Zelenskyy’s remarks a direct and gross affront to Trump.
For the people in Ukraine, the dispute above all means another winter with uncertain electricity and uncertain heating supply. Zelenskyy had recently also pointed to the consequences of the absence of US advance warnings of ballistic launches and the throttling of the Starlink satellite internet. How things will continue with the truce announced by Trump is open – Moscow has so far not acknowledged any obligations.
Editor’s note: The assessment that pressure on Russia must grow comes from President Zelenskyy; he gave the figures on drones, bombs and missiles for the past week. The reference date for the figures on the 76 attacks is 18 October.
Earlier coverage: Zelenskyy calls Trump’s sanctions pause a ’sanctions blackout‘
