President Zelensky said in an interview with the Financial Times that the pause in attacks is over, because Russia did not abide by the energy truce (NOS, AD, NU.nl, FD, Reuters). The pause lasted three days and followed Trump’s call for a truce (NOS, Bloomberg). Russia reports an attack on a refinery (NU.nl); according to the governor, a fire broke out at the Ryazan refinery after a drone attack (Reuters). Ukraine says it hit six Russian Su-34 bombers at an airfield (De Telegraaf, NU.nl, AD); the accounts of destroyed versus damaged aircraft differ. Zelensky is angry about the halt to the sharing of American intelligence and about the restriction of Starlink (FT, AD). The military part, Starshield, would be fully working again (NOS, based on Reuters). Musk points to the American government (AD, BBC, CNBC).
Refineries supply Russia with fuel and income. Even without confirmed damage, the resumption says something: Kyiv is not letting Washington hold it back, even though it depends on American intelligence and satellite links. The criticism of Trump’s diesel deal with Russia makes the relationship more sensitive (NOS, NU.nl).
In the Netherlands this is mostly political: Prime Minister Jetten wants Europe to do more for Ukraine (AD, RTL). We have not seen direct consequences for the fuel price; prices at the pump remain high (NU.nl).
Supporters of the resumption say Russia keeps attacking itself and that a truce without Russian cooperation only weakens Ukraine (Zelensky, NOS).
On the other side stands Trump’s call for an energy truce (Bloomberg). We have not seen a response from Washington to the resumption.
Today, watch three things: whether Washington responds to the resumption and to the accusations about intelligence and Starlink, whether Russia continues its attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities, and what European leaders decide at their summit on support and on the frozen Russian assets. The damage at the Russian refineries has not yet been confirmed.
NOS · AD · NU.nl · De Telegraaf · FD · Trouw · de Volkskrant · FT · Reuters · Bloomberg · BBC · CNBC (Oct. 15)
Ukraine resumes attacks on Russian refineries, despite American pressure
After a three-day pause, President Zelensky has the army hit Russian energy targets again. He is angry with Washington over missing intelligence and a restricted Starlink connection. Russia reports an attack; little has been confirmed about the damage.
Ukraine is having its army attack Russian energy targets again. Because Russia did not abide by the energy truce, the pause in attacks is over, President Zelensky said in an interview with the Financial Times (NOS, AD, NU.nl, FD, Reuters). The pause lasted three days and followed American President Trump’s call for such a truce (NOS, Bloomberg). Moscow, meanwhile, kept attacking Ukrainian energy infrastructure and civilian targets, according to Bloomberg. Zelensky points out that Russia itself carried out attacks earlier (NU.nl); De Telegraaf headlines with his words ‘We’re done with it’. Russia reports an attack on a refinery (NU.nl). According to the regional governor, a fire broke out at the Ryazan refinery after a drone attack (Reuters). We have not seen confirmation of how much damage there was. Ukraine also says it hit six Russian Su-34 bombers at an airfield (De Telegraaf, NU.nl, AD). The accounts differ: one source speaks of six destroyed aircraft, an English-language report quotes Zelensky on four destroyed and two damaged. These are Ukrainian figures; we have not seen independent confirmation.
Tension with Washington is meanwhile rising; the NOS calls it the biggest conflict between Zelensky and Trump since their confrontation in the White House. De Telegraaf quotes Zelensky lamenting the loss of the U.S. as an ally, but saying that this is not Ukraine’s doing. In that same interview Zelensky said he was angry about the ‘dangerous’ halt to the sharing of American intelligence and the throttling of Starlink (FT, AD). On Wednesday the Ukrainian army noticed that access to the satellite network was restricted (NU.nl). Later the military part, Starshield, would be fully working again, Reuters reports on the basis of a source at the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense (NOS). Elon Musk points to the American government and to Trump (AD, BBC, CNBC). According to an English-language report, the White House denies that it restricted the service (one source). Musk also said that Zelensky must ‘go’ (AFP, Kyiv Post). On top of this comes the criticism of the diesel deal that Trump announced with Russia last Friday and that is meant to bring millions of barrels of diesel onto the world market (NOS). Prime Minister Jetten wants the deal thrown in the trash (NU.nl) and called on both Trump and Musk to keep helping Ukraine (AD). According to the Volkskrant, the deal covers less than a week of American consumption. The NOS wonders whether Russia can deliver the diesel at all now that the refineries are under fire again. The FT also reports that American negotiators in Miami proposed releasing part of the frozen Russian assets and that European officials rejected this (FT, Reuters). We have not seen a reaction from Trump to the resumption.