Vladimir Putin has vowed revenge on Ukraine after President Zelensky resumed attacks on Russian oil refineries today, following Donald Trump's diesel deal 'betrayal'.
Ukraine resumed its attacks on Russia's energy infrastructure on Thursday, after the governor of the Ryazan region in western Russia revealed there had been a strike on a major oil refinery in the territory overnight.
The strike had caused a large fire, but led to no casualties and temporary school closures, according to authorities.
The Ukrainian attacks targeting Russian oil come after Zelensky's fury at US President Trump for signing a 'treacherous' deal with Putin to buy Russian diesel on Friday.
Trump has, in recent days, demanded Zelensky quit as leader and blamed Zelensky 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.
President Vladimir Putin vowed to respond to Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries. Pictured: Putin chairs a meeting via video link on improving information security at a residence outside Moscow, Russia, October 14
Zelensky accused Donald Trump of a 'betrayal' over the loss of crucial satellite data in an episode of Piers Morgan Uncensored
It comes after US President Trump signed a 'treacherous' deal with Putin to buy millions of tonnes of Russian diesel. Pictured: Trump walks on the South Lawn as he arrives at the White House, early Thursday, October 15
Putin’s oil infrastructure was today on fire again as a fuel terminal spectacularly reignited after blazing for five days in Rostov-on-Don
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.
Six Russian Su-34 fighter-bombers worth up to £225million were also 'destroyed' in a major Neptune missile strike on the airbase, claimed Ukraine
Last night, Ukraine's Defence Forces struck an airfield in the Voronezh region, where four Su-34 aircraft were destroyed and two more Su-34s were hit
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.'
Ukraine was also 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.
It was revealed today that 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.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr 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.
Today also marked 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.
Ukraine's military added that it had damaged six Russian Su-34M military aircraft - large fighter-bombers - in an overnight strike on the Borisoglebsk airfield in Russia's Voronezh region.
President Putin warned that Russia would respond to Ukraine's strikes on its oil refineries.