Ukraine will resume attacks on Russian oil facilities, Zelensky confirms

Ukrainian forces will resume targeting Russian oil refineries following a brief pause, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced, while accusing the United States of cutting back critical wartime assistance to force his country's hand.

Speaking to the Financial Times during a visit to London, Zelensky explained that Ukraine had suspended strikes against Russian energy sites for three days following requests from Washington. However, Moscow never committed to the proposed arrangement and continued to launch attacks against Ukraine's civilian power grid, cutting electricity to hundreds of thousands of people. In response, Zelensky declared the temporary halt over.

The Ukrainian president said he would now only consider stopping attacks on Russian oil facilities if the United States delivered additional Patriot air defence missiles. Kyiv views strikes on refineries as an essential tactic to curb Moscow's revenue, but its own air defence supplies have dwindled amid stockpiling strains connected to the broader conflict involving Iran.

Zelensky directly accused American officials of withholding vital intelligence on incoming Russian bombardments to pressure Kyiv into dropping the refinery campaign. He stated that American counterparts warned intelligence-sharing would be blocked unless the strikes ceased. While US President Donald Trump denied stopping intelligence cooperation, Zelensky confirmed to interviewer Piers Morgan that he felt betrayed by the recent shifts in American support.

The Ukrainian leadership also alleged that recent disruptions to the Starlink satellite internet network used by front-line units were intentional rather than accidental. Front-line troops depend on the satellite links to manage communications and operate drones. Ukrainian officials noted they received no advance notice before connection speeds dropped.

SpaceX founder Elon Musk denied that his company caused the connection slowdown, stating that the military-grade Starshield system operates under a US Department of Defense contract and that usage limits are determined by the US military and the White House. The Trump administration has not released a formal statement addressing the Starlink claims.

Tensions between Kyiv and Washington have escalated further after the US reached a deal to permit the release of 300,000 tonnes of Russian diesel onto international markets. Trump pursued the measure to alleviate surging domestic fuel prices driven by the conflict with Iran ahead of midterm elections. Zelensky strongly condemned the arrangement, arguing it amounted to subsidising the Kremlin's military campaign, and warned that similar international agreements over natural gas could follow.

Striking an assertive posture, Zelensky said Ukraine was not responsible for damaging relations with the US and stated it was not up to Kyiv to repair the rift. He also pointed to Trump's past interactions with authoritarian figures, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, as relations between the two partner nations face their most severe test since the start of the full-scale war.