Ukraine is resuming strikes on Russian oil refineries, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced.
Zelensky said Ukraine had held off on striking Russian oil refineries for three days at the request of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Russia, meanwhile, had not honored the so-called energy ceasefire, Zelensky said, continuing to strike Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and killing about 100 civilians over the past week.
“The block [on attacking refineries] is out. We’re done,” the Ukrainian president said in an interview with the Financial Times published Thursday morning, October 15.
The first strike by Ukraine’s military after the pause appears to have hit the Ryazan oil refinery. The plant, owned by Rosneft, is one of the key fuel suppliers for Moscow and the Moscow region.
Ryazan Governor Pavel Malkov announced the morning of October 15 that classes had been canceled in 14 schools and 25 kindergartens in Ryazan because of “a mass drone attack on the region.” The Ukrainian monitoring channel Exilenova+ published a photo early that morning showing a flare over the Ryazan oil refinery, suggesting it was linked to the drone attack.
Authorities in the Ryazan region confirmed the strikes, saying a fire had broken out at the refinery. Malkov also said that “a warehouse and vehicles on the grounds of another enterprise in Ryazan” had been damaged. He declined to give further details, adding that the damage was being assessed.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said Ukraine’s military attacked the Ryazan oil refinery with 69 drones and four Flamingo cruise missiles. The Russian military said it had shot down the drones and missiles, but added that “a fire broke out at the refinery as a result of falling drone debris.”
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Wednesday afternoon, October 14, that Ukrainian forces had struck two oil refineries, one in the Saratov region and one in the Ryazan region. “We see that the Ukrainian side is not showing any movement toward an energy ceasefire,” he said. At the time, authorities in the Ryazan region and eyewitnesses had not reported any strike on the refinery there, and Novak’s claim about a strike on an oil refinery in the Saratov region remains unconfirmed.
Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov, commenting on Zelensky’s remarks about resuming strikes, referred to Novak’s statement. According to Peskov, there had been no moratorium on Ukraine’s part, and strikes on Russian oil refineries and energy facilities had continued throughout this period. “There is nothing new here,” Peskov said, once again accusing Ukrainian authorities and Zelensky personally of “not wanting to make peace.”
War in photos. Aftermath of a Russian strike on Kyiv.
Russian forces struck Kyiv with drones and missiles overnight on October 14, killing three people and injuring about 20. A nine-story apartment building caught fire in the Desnianskyi District as a result of the strike.
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