Zelensky Ends Energy Pause, Orders Strikes on Russian Refineries After US Intelligence Cut

Ukrainian forces struck a Rosneft refinery in Ryazan province overnight, according to the regional governor, hours after President Volodymyr Zelensky told the Financial Times that the temporary halt on energy targets was finished.

Zelensky said Ukraine had stopped attacks on Russian refineries for three days to meet a demand from President Donald Trump, who had declared an energy ceasefire. During those days Russian forces continued to hit Ukrainian power plants and substations, leaving hundreds of thousands without electricity and killing more than 100 civilians in a week, Zelensky stated.

The Ukrainian leader added that Washington had warned Kyiv it would block intelligence sharing if the refinery strikes continued. He said the subsequent loss of some early-warning data on incoming ballistic missiles and the simultaneous slowdown in Starlink and Starshield connectivity were deliberate, not technical failures. “It was not a technical problem, it was the will,” he told the FT.

Ryazan Governor Pavel Malkov reported a major drone attack that set fire to a refinery owned by the state oil company Rosneft. Classes were cancelled at 14 schools and 25 kindergartens in the city as a result. A Ukrainian official confirmed to the FT that Kyiv had hit the plant in retaliation for Russian energy strikes.

Trump had pressed Ukraine to stop the attacks after announcing a deal to buy Russian diesel, arguing that the strikes were driving up American fuel prices. He also called for Zelensky to be replaced. Zelensky rejected any further pause unless the United States supplied additional Patriot interceptors, calling that the minimum condition.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had earlier said Zelensky did not deserve a battlefield respite. Moscow has denied agreeing to any energy truce.

The resumption comes as Russian drone and missile strikes continue across Ukraine, including a large attack on the Kirovohrad region that killed three people and damaged infrastructure. Zelensky is scheduled to address European Union leaders in Brussels on the same day, seeking tighter sanctions on Russia.

The three-day pause and its abrupt end illustrate the narrow limits of the unilateral ceasefire Trump announced. Ukraine’s decision returns direct pressure to Russian fuel production at a moment when US intelligence and satellite support for Kyiv have both been reduced.