Author: HANNA ARHIROVA / SAMYA KULLAB
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy voiced outrage on Wednesday over Russia’s continuing aerial bombardment of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in apparent defiance of US President Donald Trump’s demand for a ceasefire.
Moscow’s forces pounded Ukraine’s power grid, as well as oil and gas facilities, for the third straight night, Zelenskyy said, after Trump claimed that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to an “energy ceasefire” 4.5 years after Moscow’s forces invaded. Zelenskyy, meanwhile, has agreed to halt Ukraine’s monthslong campaign targeting Russian oil refineries that caused fuel shortages for Russians. Ukraine’s last reported hit on an oil refinery was last Friday.
The Kremlin has not confirmed that Moscow signed off on the truce, with a spokesman saying only that “contacts on this matter continue.” Trump’s efforts to stop the fighting have made no progress. Ukrainian officials say they are pushing back Russian forces in eastern Ukraine, which Russia’s bigger army has been trying to capture for years.
Ukraine has liberated 277 square kilometers in the operation that started in the summer, Ukraine’s Third Army Corps commander Brigadier General Andrii Biletskyi said on Wednesday.
It was not possible to independently verify the claim, and Russian officials did not comment.
Ukrainian officials fear US support for the war effort is falling away after Trump struck a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin to import Russian diesel despite international efforts to sanction Russia for its invasion and isolate Putin.
Ukrainian officials said the deal would help.
Russia continue its invasion, while European leaders fear Moscow’s wider ambitions on the continent and accuse Russia of sabotage as part of a hybrid war on the continent.