Ukraine accused Russia of deliberately violating President Donald Trump’s purported “energy ceasefire” and missing a chance to reduce hostilities, following a renewed wave of deadly strikes across the country that also damaged crucial power supplies.
Kyiv was particularly subjected to a barrage of powerful ballistic missiles and attack drones aimed at energy facilities and critical infrastructure, despite the US president’s unexpected weekend announcement.
Four people were killed in the city, while power was cut to at least 600,000 people after substantial damage was reported at power facilities and to equipment.
Power plants in the eastern Kharkiv region also came under ballistic missile attack, damaging electricity and heating infrastructure, Prime Minister Sergiy Koretsky said.
Zelensky condemned the latest attack as “entirely deliberate and demonstrative in its scale”, adding: “Russia has never before shown such ostentatious disrespect toward the United States.”
“Russia does not consider the American president’s statements strong,” he wrote on X.
Trump caught both Kyiv and Moscow off guard on Sunday by unilaterally declaring an “energy ceasefire,” just two days after angering Ukraine’s Western allies with news of an agreement with heavily sanctioned Russia to supply diesel fuel.
The US leader has repeatedly criticized Zelensky—even saying he should be removed as president—over Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries.
A senior Ukrainian official confirmed to AFP in recent days that Washington had threatened to stop sharing intelligence with Kyiv, which depends on it to detect incoming attacks.
The renewed signs of tension with Trump have raised questions about those arrangements, after air raid sirens warning of approaching drones or missiles failed to sound on Monday and Tuesday nights before explosions were heard.
This has happened only rarely in the past. Ukrainian officials blamed the problem on the Russian military’s use of difficult-to-detect missiles or possible technical faults.
However, Zelensky said on Tuesday evening that Ukraine had received “no early warning from our partners” about ballistic missile launches, describing this as “absolutely unjust.”
An aide to Zelensky, meanwhile, said that some Starlink internet terminals also appeared to have had their operation restricted overnight, disrupting “a number of missions” carried out by Ukrainian defense forces.
“Obviously, this action cannot be a coincidence and is linked to the current political situation,” said Sergiy Beskrestnov.
A senior Ukrainian official told AFP that Starlink speeds had been “throttled,” implying that the measure benefited Russia.
“What is important is that this has been ongoing since last night. Some restrictions were already being reported yesterday evening, so, in effect, it is happening in sync with this morning’s Russian ballistic attack,” they added.
Zelensky has stated that Ukraine is willing to refrain from attacking Russian energy infrastructure but accused the Kremlin of having “squandered the opportunity for de-escalation” during the conflict, which has lasted nearly five years.
Russia has previously attacked Ukraine’s power plants and heating infrastructure, severely disrupting supplies ahead of winter, when temperatures can drop to as low as -20°C.
Ukraine has been urging its allies to provide more military assistance as attacks on Kyiv intensify, especially advanced interceptor systems capable of bringing down missiles and fast, jet-powered drones.
Ballistic missile attacks by Russia were also reported in the eastern Kharkiv region and northwestern Zhytomyr, while further strikes hit northeastern Sumy and northern Chernigiv.
Authorities said two people were killed in the central Dnipropetrovsk region, while another person died in southeastern Zaporizhzhia.
Citing preliminary estimates, the governor of Russia’s southwestern Saratov region said a Ukrainian drone strike had killed one person in the city of Balakovo.
Moscow mayor Sergey Sobyanin said air defense forces had shot down nearly 500 drones heading towards the Russian capital overnight.
Russian authorities said approximately 160 more drones were brought down over the Rostov region, while others targeted Moscow.
