Ukraine resumes attacks on Russian oil refineries as U.S. relations teeter — SkimNews
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- Ukraine struck a refinery in Russia's Ryazan region with drones early Thursday, starting a fire roughly 300 kilometres southeast of Moscow, a strike a senior Ukrainian official confirmed anonymously.
- Zelenskyy declared a brief truce 'over' in a Financial Times interview, saying 'We're done' and announcing renewed attacks on Russian oil refineries after Russia continued bombing Ukrainian energy infrastructure in defiance of Trump's Sunday halt demand.
- Zelenskyy said Ukraine was denied Western intelligence on Russian ballistic missile strikes in recent days and had Starlink terminal speed limits imposed, telling Piers Morgan on October 14, 2026 that the U.S. was taking 'some actually crazy steps' against a partner.
- Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov labelled Ukraine's refinery strikes a 'direct and crude challenge to President Trump,' while Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Ukraine 'never stopped' its attacks on Russian refineries.
- Trump struck a deal with Putin to import Russian diesel despite international efforts to sanction Russia over its 4.5-year-old invasion, a pact Zelenskyy said would let Russia 'press on with its full-scale invasion' of Ukraine.
- Zelenskyy said the U.S. is 'not on the right side of history' and warned 'we are losing a strong partner,' while Trump maintained the U.S. has not stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine.
Why it matters: With Trump publicly backing a Russian diesel deal and reportedly throttling Starlink and intelligence support to Kyiv, Ukraine is signalling it will fight the energy war unilaterally — a posture that puts the U.S. mediation track in deeper limbo and raises the cost of the conflict for Russia even as it strips Ukraine of the American leverage it had relied on since 2022.
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