Trump declares renewed Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries 'a disgrace' and blames them for pushing up global energy prices - after Zelensky condemned US president's 'betrayal'

US President Donald Trump has called Ukraine's renewed strikes on Russian oil refineries a 'disgrace,' in an interview published Thursday. 

'Well, I think that's a disgrace,' Trump told broadcaster Newsmax when asked about Kyiv's recent strikes, adding that they were driving up global energy prices.

It came after President Volodymyr Zelensky resumed attacks on Vladimir Putin's oil refineries after he expressed anger over Trump's 'betrayal' at a time of intense Russian attacks.

In an interview with the Financial Times, the Ukrainian leader said the cutting off of US intelligence sharing and the simultaneous weakening of the Starlink satellite internet service was 'dangerous' for civilians.

'The block [on attacking refineries] is out. We’re done,' Zelensky said defiantly.

On Thursday, a Ukrainian drone attack on Russia's Ryazan region caused a fire to break out at a major oil refinery, marking the first Ukrainian strike on an energy facility since Trump announced a surprise 'energy ceasefire' on Sunday.

Separately, a fuel terminal spectacularly reignited after blazing for five days in Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia.

Zelensky had paused energy ​strikes for three days to comply with US ​wishes, but said he would now resume them because Putin was still attacking Ukraine's essential ⁠infrastructure.

The Ukrainian attacks targeting Russian oil came after Zelensky's fury at US President Trump for signing a 'treacherous' deal to buy Russian diesel last Friday.

Both Zelensky and the US senators called ​that move a gift to Putin that would provide Russia with revenue to keep funding its war in Ukraine. 

Putin vowed revenge following the attack at the refinery, which accounts for almost 5 per cent of Russia's total oil refining throughput.

Moscow responded by obliterating a Ukrainian supermarket in a drone strike on Thursday.

The store in the Odesa region was partially destroyed and three people were injured in the jet-powered shahed drone attack, which Zelensky condemned as an act of 'bloody terror'.

Trump has, in recent days, demanded Zelensky quit as leader and blamed him for spiralling energy prices.

Zelensky, meanwhile, lambasted Trump over his apparent admiration for Putin, accusing the US president of having an instinctive affinity for autocrats and the super-wealthy.

'He [Trump] speaks about it openly and loudly that he loves such people and he respects such people. Because for him people who can be leaders 20 years, 30 years, 40 years, it means they can be very strong,' Zelensky said.

Washington piled pressure on Kyiv to stop striking Putin's refineries, claiming that a moratorium, alongside a US deal with Moscow to buy hundreds of thousands of tonnes of Russian diesel, is necessary to bring down American fuel prices.

Zelensky condemned the US deal with Russia, arguing it would help Russia prolong its brutal invasion of Ukraine. 

Trump responded to Zelensky's criticism of the deal by saying it was 'time for Ukraine to get a new president', marking a rapid decline in relations between the two countries.

Trump then announced on Sunday that Russia and Ukraine had agreed a ceasefire on strikes on energy infrastructure 'effective immediately' - to which Zelensky responded that the ceasefire was 'news to me'.

But the Ukrainian president agreed to halt strikes on Russian oil facilities if Moscow stopped its bombing campaign against Ukraine's energy infrastructure.

Despite Ukraine's honouring of the supposed ceasefire, Zelensky said his military had been left without US early-warning alerts for incoming ballistic missiles, while Musk's Starlink satellite communications service had been slowed down across the nation, interfering with frontline operations and medium-range strikes against Russian military sites.

Russia, however, did not honour the ceasefire, instead continuing to pound Ukraine on Monday by targeting its gas infrastructure, a power plant and a substation.

The order to limit the satellite system used by Ukraine ​for battlefield communications and drone operations came from inside the White House, two US officials and a Western official briefed on the matter told Reuters.

The officials said ‌leaders at the Defence Department received a message that the SpaceX Starshield service for the Ukrainian military needed to be slowed.

The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, did not specify who in the White House made the decision or who was responsible for implementing the order. 

The Pentagon is the biggest customer of Starshield, which is the military-grade version of the Starlink service. 

Ukrainian officials said this week that military-grade Starlink receptors stopped working in Ukraine ​when mounted on fast-moving objects, interfering with the performance of Ukrainian drones that rely on them for onboard guidance systems over Ukrainian territory. 

A person in Ukraine's Defence Ministry said on ​Thursday that the receptors were now working when in motion, but only at speeds of up to 100 miles per hour (160 kph). 

The move to temporarily restrict the vital communications system came as Trump has pressured Kyiv to stop its attacks on Russian refineries, which he has blamed for the ​soaring energy prices that are denting his Republican Party's prospects in the November midterm elections. 

But experts say that surge in energy costs is mainly the result of the US-Israeli war with Iran, which brought Iranian ​attacks on energy facilities and has largely shut the vital Strait of Hormuz.

Elon Musk - whose company SpaceX operates the Starlink satellites which have slowed down in recent days - took to X to condemn Ukraine's resumption of attacks on Russia's oil facilities.

'And so the slaughter continues,' the tech billionaire wrote. 'Time for Zelensky to go.'

He posted on X late on Wednesday that Starshield systems, the military-grade satellite network built on Starlink technology, were 'owned and controlled by the US government'.

'Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS,' he said, referring to Trump.

Speaking on Piers Morgan Uncensored, Zelensky agreed he felt 'betrayed' by Trump's actions over the past few days, and warned the president: 'This is not the right side of history.' 

Ukraine was said to have completely run out of its stocks of the American-made Patriot air defence on Thursday - which are among the only weapons capable of knocking down a ballistic missile.

Zelensky urged Trump to allow US factories to produce the missiles locally on licence, as a source told CNN: 'Almost all the ballistic missiles from the last strike were not intercepted due to lack of the [interceptor] missiles'.

On Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning, Russian ballistic missiles hit three power plants in Kyiv - killing four and injuring 25.

Britain is sending Ukraine additional long-range Storm Shadow cruise missiles to help disrupt Russia's military operations and counter attacks on civilian infrastructure, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Zelensky met Prime Minister Andy Burnham in London on Wednesday, when Britain reaffirmed its support for Kyiv and announced further military assistance following a recent deterioration in Ukraine's ties with Washington.

Ukraine’s Defence Forces struck an airfield in the Voronezh region on Thursday, destroying four of Russia’s Su-34 aircrafts.

Two more Su-34s were hit in the attack on the Borisoglebsk military airfield.

The assault represents a major blow to Putin's strike aircraft used to bombard Ukrainian troops and cities with devastating glide bombs.

The breakdown in relations between Kyiv and Washington comes as American officials have proposed that European countries unfreeze some Russian sovereign assets immobilised after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

The assets would be transferred to a vehicle overseen by Washington in an attempt to revive peace talks.

European ⁠delegates rebuffed the plan, which was pitched by US ​special envoy ​Steve ⁠Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared ​Kushner, ⁠the FT said.

The Trump administration is also considering easing sanctions on so-called shadow fleet vessels that have transported oil and petroleum products from countries including Russia, Iran and ‌Venezuela.

The move aims to reduce record-high global freight rates that have cut into demand for US crude.

Zelensky wrote on X on Thursday that it was 'obvious that Russia deliberately escalated these strikes after receiving a relaxation of sanctions and seeing attempts to pressure Ukraine'. 

He continued: 'Russia exploits every such moment and must be held accountable for what it does. Strong decisions are needed to end this war. Ukraine needs stable support, and first and foremost in air defence. 

'Partners need honesty regarding the war: it is important that everyone in America stands not on the side of the aggressor, but on the side of protecting our lives and our efforts to end this war and ensure security.' 

Russia on Thursday said Ukraine was going against Washington's peace efforts by striking Russian oil refineries, even though Moscow itself never publicly agreed to Washington's 'energy ceasefire'.

Kyiv 'continues to launch strikes against these facilities. In doing so, it is coming into serious conflict with the peace efforts of the United States and American negotiators, who are making vigorous efforts to initiate the peace process,' Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

This is a breaking news story. More to follow.