Zelenskyy Says Russia Continues Energy Strikes After Trump Announces Ceasefire

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday that Russian forces struck energy facilities in Kharkiv and elsewhere after US President Donald Trump announced an energy ceasefire between the two countries.

Trump stated on Sunday that both sides had agreed to halt attacks on energy infrastructure, effective immediately. He offered few operational details and later linked the announcement to a separate arrangement under which Russia would release 300,000 tonnes of diesel immediately, followed by 500,000 tonnes in November and a further one million tonnes. Zelenskyy said Ukraine was prepared to honour an energy truce if Russia did the same, but reported glide-bomb and drone strikes on a power plant in Kharkiv, a gas production facility and a civilian gas station after the announcement.

The Kremlin has not confirmed the ceasefire terms. European officials noted that previous pauses in energy attacks have been short-lived. Brent crude rose above $105 a barrel as traders questioned whether the diesel releases would materialise and whether further strikes would keep Ukrainian and Russian energy assets offline. A bipartisan group of US senators urged Trump to abandon the diesel purchase plan, arguing it would provide revenue to Moscow while the war continues.

The energy infrastructure of both countries has been a primary target since the full-scale invasion began in 2022. Ukraine has used long-range strikes to hit Russian refineries; Russia has repeatedly attacked Ukrainian power plants and transmission lines, producing rolling blackouts. An energy ceasefire, if observed, would reduce immediate risks to civilian heating and industrial output heading into winter. Its durability depends on verification mechanisms that have not been publicly described.

Trump has also called for Ukraine to hold elections and replace Zelenskyy, a position Kyiv has rejected while fighting continues. Zelenskyy responded that voters would decide the next president once security conditions allow ballots to be cast. The diesel arrangement sits alongside these political demands and has drawn criticism from both Democratic and Republican lawmakers concerned about the optics of buying Russian fuel while supporting Ukraine.

Markets are pricing two competing effects: the prospect of additional Russian diesel volumes that could ease tight supplies, and the risk that continued strikes will remove more refining capacity. US diesel prices have averaged $6.19 a gallon in recent readings, elevated in part by disruptions linked to the Iran war and the Strait of Hormuz. Freight operators have accelerated plans to add electric trucks in response to the sustained high prices.

For Ukraine, the practical test is whether Russian missile and drone launches against power stations stop in the next 48 to 72 hours. Zelenskyy said Ukraine would match any genuine pause. For Russia, the test is whether the diesel releases occur on the announced schedule and whether they are accompanied by a measurable reduction in strikes. Neither side has published a monitoring protocol.

The announcement also intersects with European Union measures. On the same day, the EU adopted nearly 1,600 new sanctions listings targeting Russian entities and individuals. Those listings add to existing restrictions on energy trade and technology. Any diesel purchases by the United States would sit outside the EU framework but would still affect global price formation.

Ukrainian officials reported at least six civilian deaths from Russian attacks on Sunday, including a strike on a grocery store in Kharkiv that killed three and injured 20. Those casualties occurred before or around the time of Trump’s statement. Subsequent strikes on energy sites were cited by Zelenskyy as evidence that the ceasefire had not taken hold.

The longer-term question is whether an energy-only pause can be separated from the broader military campaign. Previous attempts to carve out specific categories of targets have collapsed when one side judged the other was using the pause to reconstitute forces. Both Kyiv and Moscow have incentives to keep energy infrastructure under threat as leverage. The diesel deal adds a commercial incentive for Moscow that did not exist in earlier rounds of talks.

Until independent verification appears, the status of the energy ceasefire remains a claim by one party that the other party has not confirmed and that battlefield reports have already contradicted. Markets, households facing winter heating bills, and military planners on both sides are watching the next round of strikes and the first scheduled diesel shipments for evidence of whether the arrangement holds.