Moscow launched a record swarm of drones to target infrastructure across central Ukraine on Thursday. Kyiv quickly resumed strikes on Russian oil refineries, after the White House had attempted to negotiate an energy ceasefire between the warring nations.
Donald Trump had demanded that Volodymyr Zelenskyy stop attacking Russian oil refineries, claiming the strikes caused a global rise in diesel prices. Neither Russia nor Ukraine had formally agreed to the abrupt ceasefire announcement.
Moscow accused Ukraine of striking an oil refinery in the Ryazan region. Regional officials stated the facility was targeted by 69 drones and four Flamingo cruise missiles, while Moscow claimed falling debris from a downed drone caused the fire.
Zelenskyy confirmed on Wednesday that Kyiv would restart attacks on Russian refineries after briefly halting them to show readiness for peace talks. The Ukrainian president told the Financial Times that the block on targeting refineries was over.
Ukraine also struck a military airfield in Russia’s southern Voronezh region using a Neptune cruise missile. Zelenskyy stated that the operation destroyed four Sukhoi Su-34 fighter bomber jets and damaged two others, publishing satellite photos of the damage.
In the Black Sea, two chemical tankers carrying the flags of neutral nations were struck by Russian drones in Romanian territorial waters at the mouth of the Danube River. The Romanian president, Nicușor Dan, reported that the vessels were set ablaze and rescue crews were searching for at least seven missing sailors.
Zelenskyy said Russia had attacked Ukraine with more than 850 Shahed drones while Ukrainian defences were restricted by sudden limitations on Starlink and Starshield internet terminals. US billionaire Elon Musk denied throttling the systems and stated they were controlled by the US government, but later posted on social media that it was time for Zelenskyy to go.
A bipartisan group of US senators wrote to the Pentagon on Thursday to demand an investigation into whether satellite and intelligence services had been deliberately restricted. Meanwhile, the British defence secretary, Wes Streeting, told the BBC that he had been reassured directly by his US counterpart that access to Starlink communications had been restored.
Zelenskyy told interviewers on Thursday that he felt betrayed by the US administration. Trump previously stated that Ukraine should get a new president, as the diplomatic feud between Washington and Kyiv escalated.
