Peskov declines comment as Zelensky demands reciprocal halt from Moscow
Russian strikes hit energy infrastructure across Ukraine overnight, hours after President Trump announced an energy ceasefire between Moscow and Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said at the Warsaw Security Forum on Monday. The attacks struck a gas-production facility, a power plant, and a power substation, Zelensky said.
Speaking at the forum, Zelensky said a Russian jet-powered Shahed drone struck a gas-production facility in Ukraine at midnight. “Last night, Russian oil refineries were not burning. But at midnight, a Russian jet-powered Shahed struck a gas-production facility in Ukraine,” Zelensky said. A separate Russian strike hit “an ordinary gas station, involving several drones,” he added.
Ukrainian state oil-and-gas company Naftogaz reported that critical equipment at a gas infrastructure facility in the Kharkiv region was damaged in the overnight attack. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha told journalists at a European Union foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg that a power substation in the northern region of Zhytomyr was also damaged. “No one should believe Putin’s words. Look at his actions instead,” Sybiha said, reiterating Ukraine’s readiness for a reciprocal energy ceasefire.
Zelensky used his Warsaw remarks to reiterate Ukraine’s long-standing position that it would halt long-range strikes on Russian oil facilities only if Moscow stopped its bombing campaign against Ukrainian energy infrastructure. “If Russia wants us to stop our long-range strikes against its oil refineries and oil exports, then Russia must stop its strikes against our energy system and critical infrastructure. And stop killing our people,” he said, adding that European and other leaders support that approach.
The Russian government offered no immediate confirmation of the announced ceasefire. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Monday that he could not share any comments regarding the announced energy ceasefire as contacts continued, according to Russian state news agency TASS.
The Russian attacks come as the U.S. heaps pressure on Ukraine to stop striking Russian oil refineries, and after Trump moved to allow Russia to export diesel to the U.S. in a bid to drive down American prices at the pump.
Russia’s bombing campaign against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure has already caused widespread power cuts across the country this fall. Zelensky has framed any future energy ceasefire as contingent on Russian reciprocation and active U.S. enforcement, telling the Warsaw Security Forum that American guarantees would be necessary for any arrangement to hold.