Russia Hits Ukraine Energy Sites Despite Trump Ceasefire Claim

Kyiv Says Moscow Is Not Playing Along
"It is increasingly evident that Russia is unwilling to accept an energy ceasefire proposed by the United States," Zelenskiy wrote on X, adding that Russia plans to continue its terrorist air attacks. He argued that Moscow acts this way whenever it sees the chance of higher revenue for its war machine. Speaking by video link to a conference in Poland, he named two of the targets as a gas facility and a petrol station, both hit by Russian drones.

The timing is awkward. Trump's announcement came days after he unveiled a deal to buy diesel from Russia, which Zelenskiy has criticised as a reversal of years of Western policy aimed at isolating Russia's economy. Trump has also called on Ukrainians to unseat Zelenskiy in an election, an unusually harsh exchange between two leaders whose relationship has been strained since Trump returned to power in 2025. Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, Vladimir Putin's point man for oil, said Russia could lift diesel exports above the levels Trump outlined. Lawmakers from both major US parties complained the deal appeared to break US law, but Trump defended it. Three people familiar with a meeting said his envoys told Ukrainian officials last week that the deal aimed to draw Russia back to peace talks.

This was the second time in a few weeks that Trump declared such a ceasefire without confirmation from both warring sides. Zelenskiy said Ukraine carried out no attacks on Russian refineries overnight and was willing to agree to an energy truce. He said elections, suspended during wartime, could be held if Moscow accepted a full 60-day ceasefire. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected that, saying officials "do not want a ceasefire" and want long-term peace instead. He did add that talks on a possible energy truce were continuing, with more details to come.

Civilians Pay the Price
In Kyiv, a new Russian strike on a high-rise apartment block killed two people and injured at least nine. Attacks in other regions killed at least six more, according to officials. Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-biggest city in the northeast, was hit again too. Ukraine's Emergency Services said 11 people were injured in evening attacks, including one strike that collapsed the entrance of an apartment building. Overnight attacks killed at least three people in Kharkiv, and morning strikes wounded at least 22. Near Kramatorsk, one of Ukraine's "fortress cities" in the eastern Donetsk region that Russian forces have targeted in their slow push westward, three people died.

Kharkiv resident Nataliia Minka had just reached a shelter when a missile landed nearby. She and her child believed they saw it hit a power station. "Ten minutes had passed since they promised they wouldn't target energy facilities," she said. She also described a father crying and screaming as he ran around his child, who lay covered up nearby.

Russia began its latest campaign against Ukraine's grid two weeks ago. It has already caused daily power cuts lasting hours in Kyiv, disrupted the capital's water and sewage systems and twice stopped its underground trains abruptly.

Europe Hardens Its Stance
Ukraine's European allies voiced doubt about any such agreement on Monday and backed Kyiv. EU foreign ministers approved the largest sanctions package since Russia's 2022 invasion, adding 1,569 names of banned individuals and businesses. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said in Berlin that Russia will only negotiate seriously under pressure, which is why sanctions will stay.

Kyiv has increasingly gone after Russian oil refineries and logistics with long-range strikes, its answer to more than four and a half years of Russian attacks on its cities, including repeated winter campaigns against its power and heat. Trump has blamed those refinery attacks for surging global fuel costs, especially diesel, which has hit record US prices since he launched his military campaign against Iran. On Saturday, he said Zelenskiy had "better damn well stop" hitting Russian refineries.