World · Europe · 2 hrs ago
Ukraine paused refinery strikes for 72 hours during energy truce, Zelensky says
Ukraine paused strikes on Russian oil refineries for 72 hours, President Volodymyr Zelensky said at a briefing on Oct.
27.
The pause came during an energy ceasefire that U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Oct.
11, which Zelensky said surprised him.
Russia continued attacking Ukraine’s energy infrastructure during the ceasefire, according to Zelensky.
Kyiv had said it would halt strikes on Russian oil facilities if Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy sites eased; the refineries are an important source of revenue for Russia’s government.
Ukraine instead struck other targets, including data centers and sites where Russian ballistic missiles were concentrated, and Zelensky said it continued responding to Russian attacks.
Ukraine’s power system is under growing strain after years of damage from Russian strikes, with power outages and water disruptions already affecting communities as winter approaches.
Ukraine paused strikes on Russian oil refineries for 72 hours during an energy truce, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Zelensky said Russia continued attacking Ukrainian energy infrastructure during the pause.
He said Ukrainian forces focused on other targets and were not ordered to stop responding to Russian strikes.
The pause followed repeated requests for Ukraine to halt strikes on Russian oil facilities, Zelensky said.
- Who
- Ukraine, as described by President Volodymyr Zelensky.
- What
- Ukraine suspended strikes on Russian oil refineries for 72 hours while targeting other sites.
- When
- During the first 72 hours of the energy truce. Zelensky discussed it at a briefing on Oct. 27.
- Where
- Russian oil refineries and other targets; the truce also concerned attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
- Why
- Zelensky said Ukraine was asked to halt strikes on Russian oil facilities and chose to respond calmly by striking other targets.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced that an energy ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia had taken effect.
Ukraine suspended strikes on Russian oil refineries while its forces focused on other targets.
Zelensky cited an incident involving the Ryazan oil refinery and said Ukrainian forces also carried out other operations.
Zelensky described the pause at a closed-door briefing with journalists.
- Pause duration
- 72 hours
- Ukrainian president
- Volodymyr Zelensky
- Energy ceasefire announcement
- Oct. 11, by U.S. President Donald Trump
- Refinery incident cited
- Ryazan oil refinery, Oct. 15
- Briefing
- Closed-door, Oct. 27
3 sources
What people are saying
Let's respond calmly by striking other targets for at least 72 hours. We won't touch the oil refineries.
That didn't help. There was all kinds of rhetoric, and no one thanked us for those three days.
We responded to their painful strikes, and we expect our responses to be felt by the Russians, too.