(The Turkish Post) – Ukrainian drones set fire to the Ryazan refinery southeast of Moscow on Oct. 15, hours after President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv would no longer honor the pause on strikes against energy sites that U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Oct. 11.
The attack ended a truce that lasted only a few days and that Russia, according to Kyiv, never observed. The Ryazan refinery is owned by the state oil company Rosneft and accounts for nearly 5% of Russia’s refining throughput.
Fire at the Ryazan refinery
Ryazan Governor Pavel Malkov said on Telegram that a major Ukrainian drone attack had caused a fire at the refinery. No casualty figures or details of the damage at the Ryazan refinery had been released by early Oct. 16.
Kyiv has struck Russian refineries throughout the war as part of a long-range campaign against the oil industry, which it describes as a way to cut the revenue that funds Russia’s invasion.
Russian President Vladimir Putin played down the effect of the campaign, saying the Ukrainian strikes had caused “nothing particularly significant.” The Kremlin said Ukraine’s attacks on energy infrastructure ran counter to U.S. peace efforts. Earlier in the week it had said the scope of the energy ceasefire had never been defined.
Zelensky ends the energy ceasefire
Zelensky announced the decision in an interview with a British newspaper published on Oct. 15. “The block (on attacking refineries) is out. We’re done,” he said.
Trump said on Oct. 11 that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to stop attacking each other’s energy infrastructure. He blames Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries for pushing up global diesel prices and said over the weekend that the attacks “damn well better stop.” Kyiv suspended its refinery strikes after the announcement and said it backed the ceasefire.
In the days that followed, Russia kept hitting Ukraine’s energy system. Russian strikes hit power plants in Kyiv and Kharkiv within hours of Trump’s statement, and further missile and drone attacks on power stations followed.
Russian drone attacks continue across Ukraine
Russia launched more than 500 drones at Ukraine overnight into Oct. 15, according to Ukrainian officials. Ukraine’s emergency service said a Russian drone attack on the central Kirovohrad region that lasted more than 10 hours killed three people and injured six.
The war also reached the Black Sea on Oct. 15. Drones struck two tankers off Romania’s coast, setting at least one on fire, and Romanian rescuers were searching for seven missing crew members. Romania is a member of NATO and the European Union.
Starlink row strains ties with Washington
The decision deepens the most serious rift between Kyiv and Washington since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. Ukrainian officials say that for several days they have not received the usual warnings from Western allies about incoming Russian ballistic missiles. Trump has denied withholding intelligence.
Ukraine has also accused the United States of limiting its use of Starshield, the military version of the Starlink satellite internet service, which Ukrainian forces use to pilot drones. “It was not a technical problem, it was the will,” Zelensky said.
Elon Musk, whose company SpaceX operates the network, wrote that “Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS,” referring to the president. Service has since been restored.
Diesel deal and midterm pressure
Trump lifted U.S. sanctions on Russian diesel last week as part of an arrangement with Putin, and he then said Ukraine should replace Zelensky.
U.S. diesel prices have reached record highs since the war with Iran began in February, and Trump faces midterm elections on Nov. 3, less than three weeks away. The energy ceasefire was presented in Washington as a way to ease fuel prices before the vote.
Zelensky traveled to Brussels for the summit of European Union leaders that opened on Oct. 15 and is due to end on Oct. 16.
