Ukraine resumes attacks on Russian oil refineries, officials say, after …
Ukrainian drones struck an oil refinery in Russia's Ryazan region, shattering a brief US-backed energy truce and plunging Kyiv's relations with Washington into deep crisis.
- Headline: Ukraine resumes attacks on Russian oil refineries, officials say, after …
- Dispatch Summary: Ukrainian drones struck an oil refinery in Russia's Ryazan region, shattering a brief US-backed energy truce and plunging Kyiv's relations with Washington into deep crisis.
- Verification: Corroborated across independent reporting outlets with primary sources and real-time wire transmissions.
We're done,
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the Financial Times, signaling the sudden collapse of a short-lived, US-backed energy truce that has plunged Kyiv’s relations with Washington into deep crisis. Ukrainian drones struck an oil refinery in the Ryazan region southeast of Moscow early Thursday, marking a sharp return to hostilities just days after US President Donald Trump unilaterally announced an energy ceasefire. The renewed strikes underscore a dangerous divergence between Washington and Kyiv as the Trump administration presses for deals to lower domestic fuel prices, leaving Ukrainian leadership feeling abandoned amid relentless Russian aerial bombardments.
The swift escalation shatters an arrangement that was fragile from its inception on Sunday, when Trump demanded that both sides halt attacks on energy infrastructure. While Zelenskyy maintained that Kyiv paused its refinery strikes for three days at Washington's behest, Russia continued its bombardment, culminating in more than 850 drones launched at Ukraine between midnight and Thursday morning, according to Zelenskyy's posts on X. The ensuing barrage left three people dead and six injured in the Kirovohrad region after a drone attack lasting more than 10 hours, while Russia's Defense Ministry claimed its air defenses intercepted 166 Ukrainian drones — with Al Jazeera and sources noting four Flamingo missiles — targeting the Ryazan facility, where falling debris nevertheless sparked a blaze confirmed by Ryazan Gov. Pavel Malkov and an anonymous senior Ukrainian official.
How did Washington and Kyiv arrive at this breaking point?
The current confrontation stems from compounding grievances over diplomatic maneuverings, intelligence flows, and critical battlefield technology. Trump recently struck an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin to import Russian diesel into the US and global marketplace to tame soaring fuel and petrol costs driven by the Iran war, a deal Zelenskyy harshly criticized as effectively investing in Russia's war effort. In the wake of that agreement, tensions boiled over as Ukrainian officials reported a cutoff in crucial US early-warning intelligence regarding Russian ballistic missile strikes, alongside unexpected speed limits imposed on military Starshield satellite communication terminals.
| Metric or Action | Ukrainian / Kyiv Perspective | US / Washington Stance | Russian / Moscow Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Energy Ceasefire | Complied for three days before resuming strikes | Unilaterally announced by Trump on Sunday | Never publicly agreed to the truce; continued strikes |
| Intelligence & Starshield | Accuses US of withdrawing intel and throttling Starshield speeds | Trump denied halting intelligence-sharing | Claimed interception of 166 drones at Ryazan |
| Diesel & Sanctions | Slammed US-Russia diesel deal as funding the invasion | Aims to lower domestic fuel prices ahead of midterms | Proceeding with full-scale invasion of Ukraine |
The operational squeeze severely hampers Ukraine's capacity to coordinate front-line defense and guide drones. While SpaceX owner Elon Musk stated on X that the military-grade systems are owned and controlled by the US government and that any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately Trump, the Trump administration has not publicly commented on the restrictions. Musk further escalated the political friction by writing on X that Time for Zelensky to go,
echoing calls for the Ukrainian leader to be replaced.
Why are oil refineries the ultimate leverage point for Kyiv?
For Ukraine, striking Russian refineries is not merely retaliatory; it is an economic necessity aimed at cutting off the revenue streams feeding Moscow's war machine. Zelenskyy told the Financial Times while in London that Kyiv would only consider halting such attacks again on one explicit condition: the supply of more US-made Patriot air defense missiles. Ukraine has faced an acute shortage of these interceptors since the Iran war consumed existing stockpiles, leaving cities vulnerable to ballistic missiles in the absence of Western early-warning feeds.
That vulnerability was laid bare when Ukrainian air defenses stopped 536 Russian drones during the massive overnight onslaught, though impacts were still recorded at 31 locations across the country. Zelenskyy expanded on his deep frustration during an interview late Wednesday with British journalist Piers Morgan on his YouTube show, admitting that he felt betrayed by the American president's actions, calling the sudden withholding of intelligence and the throttling of Starshield crazy steps between us
that signal the loss of a strong partner.
What do European leaders offer as EU talks open?
The widening chasm with Washington forces Kyiv to look westward toward European capitals for diplomatic and financial salvation. Zelenskyy traveled to Brussels on Thursday to meet European leaders, pressing for tougher sanctions against Moscow and accelerated delivery of military support. Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten urged fellow EU leaders to step up their game to ensure Ukraine wins the war against Russia, although the European Union's pledged 50 billion dollars in support for next year falls well short of the 175 billion dollars Kyiv intends to spend on its defense.
The diplomatic fallout leaves US-Ukrainian relations teetering at a historic low, complicated by Trump's past affinity for autocratic leaders like Vladimir Putin and a fiery Oval Office meeting last year where Trump implied Zelenskyy was the main obstacle to a peace deal. Zelenskyy noted that mending the relationship is no longer his burden, stating that We didn't destroy any relationship.
As the Ukrainian president confers with European allies in Brussels, the Kremlin continues its aerial campaign unabated, leaving the battlefield defined once more by burning refineries in Ryazan and unrelenting missile barrages across the central plains of Ukraine.
