Trump tells Zelensky to halt Russian refinery strikes — SkimNews
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- Trump told reporters at his Doonbeg golf club during the Irish Open that Zelensky "has to stop knocking out diesel fuel in Russia," arguing there are "plenty of other targets" and the strikes are "hurting the world."
- U.S. diesel prices hit a record Friday, soaring past US$6 a gallon on average, with the source noting the spike comes as Americans prepare for November midterm elections.
- The International Energy Agency reported that combined diesel and gasoil exports from the Gulf and Russia accounted for nearly 45% of global seaborne trade in February, with August Gulf exports down to "just over a quarter" of pre-Iran-war levels and intensified Ukrainian strikes compounding the losses.
- Ukraine claimed overnight drone strikes on a major oil refinery in Slavyansk-on-Kuban (Krasnodar) and the Nizhnekamsk industrial cluster in Tatarstan, where two Russian civilians died; Russia's defence ministry said it shot down 389 Ukrainian drones overnight.
- Russia launched a "massive" drone attack on Odesa injuring at least nine, a day after a Saturday strike on a residential high-rise killed two and wounded 26; a drone also ignited a gas station near the Yahodyn-Dorohusk crossing with Poland, prompting Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha to warn "Russian barbarians are at your gate, dear partners."
- Ukraine's air force reported intercepting or suppressing 409 of 453 Russian drones overnight, including newer jet-powered variants that are "faster and more difficult to intercept," while Kyiv defends the refinery strikes as targeting infrastructure that "funds and directly fuels" Moscow's invasion.
Why it matters: Trump's public pressure on Zelensky lines up directly with U.S. midterm math: diesel hit a record $6/gallon just as voters head to the polls, and the source notes the price surge stems from Ukrainian refinery strikes, Moscow's July diesel-export ban, and the war on Iran disrupting Gulf shipments that once supplied 45% of global seaborne diesel trade. Kyiv's defenders argue those same refineries bankroll the war hitting Ukrainian civilians in Odesa and on Poland's doorstep.
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