Russia bombards Ukraine with 850 overnight drones
The strike started a fire at the refinery about 300 kilometers (180 miles) southeast of Moscow, Russia’s Defense Ministry and Ryazan Gov. Pavel Malkov said. Russia’s Astra online news outlet posted what it said was a photograph of the blaze. A senior Ukrainian official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak publicly confirmed that Ukraine had hit the refinery.
The strike came hours after Zelenskyy told the Financial Times in an interview published Thursday that Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries would resume. “We’re done,” he was quoted as saying. Zelenskyy was outraged by Russia’s continuing aerial bombardment of Ukrainian energy infrastructure in apparent defiance of Trump’s demand on Sunday for both sides to halt those attacks. The Ukrainian government said it was heeding the ceasefire; Zelenskyy publicly declared the truce over.
In a separate interview late Wednesday with British journalist Piers Morgan on his YouTube show, Zelenskyy said he felt betrayed by Trump’s deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the energy ceasefire announcement, and the Starlink operational issues. “Really, yes, between us,” Zelenskyy told Morgan when asked if he felt betrayed by the American president. “Our country has to survive, and we count on our real partners, strategic partners, the United States and President Trump.”
Zelenskyy said the U.S. behavior “was really strange and what was not like between partners but that they switch off Starlink, so some actually crazy steps between us.” The Starlink speed limits choked Ukrainian efforts to defend itself and hit back against Russia, Kyiv officials said. Elon Musk noted on X that the military version of Starlink is controlled by the U.S. military and Trump. Trump has said the U.S. hasn’t stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine.
In the Morgan interview, Zelenskyy said “we are losing a strong partner” in the United States, and “it’s painful when President Trump chooses one side, not our side. But we are OK that he’s in the middle.” Zelenskyy said someone is pushing Trump into a stance that is “not the right side of history.”
Zelenskyy also criticized Trump’s deal with Putin to import Russian diesel, an agreement he said would allow Russia to press on with its full-scale invasion of Ukraine that began more than 4½ years ago. U.S. efforts under Trump to end the war have made no progress, Zelenskyy said.
The Russian bombardment continued overnight. In a post on X, Zelenskyy said that between midnight and Thursday morning Russia launched more than 850 drones at Ukraine, adding that the barrage came “precisely at a time when the speed of our defensive capabilities is being artificially restricted.” Russian aerial attacks hit 15 Ukrainian regions, he said.
“It is obvious that Russia deliberately chose to escalate its attacks after receiving sanctions relief and seeing attempts to pressure Ukraine,” Zelenskyy wrote. “It is important that everyone in America stand not with the aggressor, but with our efforts to protect lives, end this war and guarantee security.”
Three people were killed and six others injured in the Kirovohrad region of central Ukraine after a Russian drone attack lasting more than 10 hours, Ukraine’s Emergency Services said Thursday. Ukrainian air defenses stopped 536 Russian drones during the large-scale overnight attack, the Ukrainian Air Force said, but impacts were recorded at 31 locations.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said air defenses downed 166 Ukrainian drones overnight and that its forces hit two vessels carrying military cargo.