Ukraine says it struck Russian refinery in response to missile and drone attacks
A Ukrainian official says the overnight strike answers Russian missile and drone attacks that broke the energy truce pushed by Washington
Published
A Ukrainian official said Ukraine struck a Russian oil refinery overnight, calling it a response to Russian ballistic missile and drone attacks that violated an energy truce.
The strike follows a pattern stretching back to September, when announced ceasefires on energy infrastructure did not stop either side from hitting the other's facilities. Ukraine had already struck refineries at Omsk and Samara, while Russia kept hitting Ukraine's power grid despite the truce claims.
Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said drones hit the Saratov and Ryazan refineries on Wednesday, days after he confirmed two other attacks on Russian refining capacity. Those strikes came just after US officials Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner told Kyiv that Washington wanted refinery strikes stopped as part of a diesel-for-negotiations push, an arrangement that assumed Ukraine would hold back from hitting Russian refineries in exchange for eased sanctions on Russian exports. A source close to the Kremlin has said Putin will only negotiate once Russia secures the remaining 11% of Donbas.
President Zelenskiy has said Russia looks unwilling to accept any US-brokered truce, while President Trump has said he is working with both sides and believes both Zelenskiy and Putin want the war to end. The Financial Times has reported that the fresh refinery strikes are complicating US efforts to add incentives, including a possible unfreezing of Russian assets, to revive talks.
By framing the strike as retaliation for a truce violation, Ukraine adds another instance of both sides blaming each other while the fighting continues. The gap between diplomatic statements and what is happening on the ground remains as wide as it has been since September, leaving the diesel-for-ceasefire framework Washington has pushed unresolved.