Kyiv stopped attacking Russia's oil refineries, Moscow continues pounding Ukraine's energy grid, Zelensky says
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Since U.S. President Donald Trump's sudden announcement of an energy truce between Russia and Ukraine on Oct. 11, Ukraine has not targeted Russia’s oil refineries or energy infrastructure, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Oct 13.
Russia ignored the ceasefire, Zelensky added.
"Ukraine has not carried out strikes on Russian oil refineries or the energy sector in general for the two days since the American president announced an energy ceasefire. But Russia did not heed," Zelensky said on social media.
Trump made it very clear that the U.S. can influence both sides when responding to reporters' questions on why he announced a ceasefire without consulting either side.
"They agreed because I said they agreed. And that thing has to get settled."
The announcement of yet another ceasefire was news to Kyiv, but Zelensky expressed Ukraine's willingness to uphold it in an interview with Axios.
"If President Trump negotiated it with (Vladimir) Putin, please tell us when the ceasefire begins. We are ready, and we will accept it."
Russia soon violated the energy ceasefire by attacking Kharkiv's CHP-5 power plant in the evening of Oct.11.
Following the attack, Zelensky disclosed that over the past week, Russia has carried out over 200 strikes on Ukraine's electricity and transmission facilities, in addition to 17 strikes on gas and oil facilities.
"They have killed more than 150 of our people, and more than 700 people have been wounded," he wrote.
On Oct. 12, Russia seemingly rejected the idea of a ceasefire. "We want long-term peace and are prepared to do everything possible to achieve it," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said in turn.
The truce also makes little sense for Ukraine if it only addresses oil refineries. Zelensky said Ukraine is "ready to respect an energy ceasefire if Russia is ready to do the same," but it must go beyond just oil refineries to include energy infrastructure.
"In Ukraine, we have just one oil refinery. And it was badly damaged by Russian strikes long, long ago," Zelensky said on Oct. 12 in a video address to the Warsaw Security Forum.
As Russia continues to pound Ukraine's energy grid, Kyiv — a city with over three million residents, comparable in population and size to Berlin — endures hour-long power outages, with some districts also being deprived of water.
"It was clear that Putin does not read Truth Social, and his 'Shahed' drones follow a different set of instructions," Zelensky said.
