Zelenskyy courts Trump envoys as energy strikes escalate — SkimNews
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- Zelenskyy spoke with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner on October 18, telling them "a lot depends on America" and calling potential US alignment with Russia a "historic mistake" as he urged Trump to "change his decisions."
- Zelenskyy accused Moscow of breaking Trump's "energy ceasefire" 76 times and warned Russia planned to deprive Ukrainians of heat and electricity before winter, with Russian strikes leaving "tens of thousands" without power and killing three people.
- Zelenskyy discussed deliveries of US Patriot air defense systems with the envoys, saying he was "thankful" intelligence sharing resumed after a pause that left Ukraine vulnerable to Russian missile strikes.
- Ukraine launched its largest drone attack on Saint Petersburg since the 2022 war on October 18, setting an oil refinery and depot ablaze, killing one person, and prompting air defenses to shoot down 144 drones.
- Ukraine's strikes hit a VKontakte data centre and an Ozon logistics centre in Saint Petersburg, with 20,000 people left without power in the town of Yanino after a substation was hit.
- Trump has blocked new sanctions on Russia and struck a diesel deal with Moscow, fueling fears in Kyiv and Europe that the White House is steering toward Moscow, with a US-led push to end the war so far producing no breakthrough.
Why it matters: Ukraine's dependence on US military aid — particularly Patriot interceptors and resumed intelligence sharing — is now colliding with simultaneous escalation on both fronts: Russian strikes are disabling power for tens of thousands before winter, while Ukraine's largest-ever drone assault on Saint Petersburg shows Kyiv can inflict pain deep inside Russia but cannot, per Zelenskyy, break the war alone.
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