Ukraine resumes attacks on Russian oil refineries as tensions deepen with US

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was outraged by Russia’s continuing aerial bombardment of his country’s energy infrastructure (Dan Bashakov/AP)

Ukrainian drones attacked a refinery in the Russian region of Ryazan on Thursday, hours after President Volodymyr Zelensky said that a brief truce spurned by Moscow was over amid deepening tensions with Washington.

The drone strike started a fire at the refinery about 180 miles south-east of Moscow, Russia’s Defence Ministry and Ryazan governor Pavel Malkov said.

Russia’s Astra online news outlet posted what it said was a photograph of the blaze.

A senior Ukrainian official confirmed that Ukraine had hit the refinery.

The strike could further complicate Kyiv’s relations with US President Donald Trump, which have soured again in recent days.

Mr Zelensky was outraged by Russia’s continuing aerial bombardment of his country’s energy infrastructure in apparent defiance of Mr Trump’s demand on Sunday for both sides to halt those attacks. The Ukrainian government said that it was heeding the ceasefire.

Mr Zelensky complained that, despite going along with Mr Trump’s demand for a truce, Ukraine in recent days was denied the usual Western intelligence on Russian ballistic missile strikes and limits were placed on its use of US-made Starlink communication terminals.

The Ukrainian leader said that his patience had run out. He said in an interview with the Financial Times published on Thursday that Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries would resume.

“We’re done,” he was quoted as saying.

Mr Trump made a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin to import Russian diesel, despite international efforts to sanction Russia for its invasion and diplomatically isolate Mr Putin.

Mr Zelensky criticised the agreement, saying it would allow Russia to press on with its full-scale invasion of Ukraine that began more than four years ago. US efforts under Mr Trump to end the war have made no progress.

Mr Zelensky said in an interview late Wednesday with Piers Morgan on his YouTube show that he felt betrayed by Mr Trump’s deal with Mr Putin, the energy ceasefire announcement and the Starlink operational issues.

“Really, yes, between us,” Mr Zelensky told Mr Morgan when asked if he felt betrayed by the American president. “Our country has to survive, and we count on our real partners, strategic partners, the United States and President Trump.”

He said that the US behaviour “was really strange and what was not like between partners but that they switch off Starlink, so some actually crazy steps between us”.

In the same interview, Mr Zelensky said that “we are losing a strong partner” in the United States.

He said that “it’s painful when President Trump chooses one side, not our side. But we are OK that he’s in the middle”.

Mr Zelensky said someone is pushing Mr Trump into a stance that is “not the right side of history”.

The Starlink speed limits choked Ukrainian efforts to defend itself and hit back against Russia, Kyiv officials said.

Elon Musk noted on X that the military version of Starlink is controlled by the US military and Mr Trump.

The absence of Western intelligence leaves Ukraine more vulnerable to Russian ballistic missiles. Mr Trump has said the US has not stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine.

Amid fears that the Trump administration may be withdrawing support for Ukraine, Mr Zelensky was due in Brussels for talks with European Union leaders attending a summit.

He was travelling to Belgium after visiting London, where he won pledges of more help from Prime Minister Andy Burnham.

Asked whether the EU still trusts Mr Trump, the bloc’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, replied: “We definitely have a different approach to this war. We see that we have to pressure the aggressor to stop the war, not the victim to surrender.”

“Squeezing Ukraine is not the right approach, and that is why Europe is standing beside Ukraine,” Ms Kallas told reporters at the summit, which Mr Zelensky is scheduled to attend on Friday.

Meanwhile, three people were killed and six others injured after the Kirovohrad region of central Ukraine came under a Russian drone attack lasting more than 10 hours, Ukraine’s Emergency Services said on Thursday.

Mr Zelensky said on X that between midnight and Thursday morning Russia launched more than 850 drones at Ukraine, adding that the barrage came “precisely at a time when the speed of our defensive capabilities is being artificially restricted”.

Russian aerial attacks hit 15 Ukrainian regions, he said.

“It is obvious that Russia deliberately chose to escalate its attacks after receiving sanctions relief and seeing attempts to pressure Ukraine,” Mr Zelensky said. “It is important that everyone in America stand not with the aggressor, but with our efforts to protect lives, end this war and guarantee security.”

Ukrainian air defences stopped 536 Russian drones during a large-scale overnight attack, the Ukrainian Air Force said, but impacts were recorded at 31 locations.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said that air defences downed 166 Ukrainian drones overnight. It said that its forces hit two vessels carrying military cargo.