Ukraine Reports Continued Energy Strikes Despite US Ceasefire Claim

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday that Russia has not approved the energy ceasefire United States President Donald Trump announced a day earlier, and Ukrainian officials said Russian strikes on energy facilities continued after the announcement.

In a brief post on Sunday, Trump said the ceasefire took effect immediately and added, “Do not break it!” The post gave few details, according to the Associated Press.

What Zelenskyy said
Speaking at the Warsaw Security Forum, Zelenskyy said Ukraine supports the proposal, “but I have not heard approval of this proposal from the Russian side.” He said Ukraine was “horribly surprised” by strikes after Trump’s announcement, and that “it was clear that Putin does not read Truth Social.” He also said, “This energy ceasefire can work, and it can become a major step toward ending the war.” Zelenskyy said Russia struck numerous energy sites after the announcement, including a power plant in Kharkiv, a gas production facility and a civilian gas station, according to AP’s account. A Monday statement from Kharkiv’s regional prosecutor said Russian forces attacked an energy facility on the city’s outskirts.

The Kremlin’s answer
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov would not say whether Russia agreed to a ceasefire. “Contacts are ongoing,” he said. Moscow has not publicly confirmed it is participating in the arrangement. That means the announcement cannot yet be described as a functioning ceasefire accepted by both sides. It also follows a pattern: on September 14, AP noted, Trump said both sides had agreed not to hit each other’s energy infrastructure, and nothing came of it.

Attacks continue
A Sunday evening Russian drone attack on Pisochyn, in the Kharkiv district, killed three people and injured nine, including children, according to AP. Ukraine’s Air Force said it shot down or suppressed 89 of 121 Russian drones overnight Monday, and that strikes hit 15 locations. Russia’s Defence Ministry said its air defences intercepted 151 Ukrainian drones. Both sets of figures are military claims that require independent verification.

Doubt in Europe and a diesel dispute in the background
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas welcomed a possible pause, especially as winter approaches, but said, “We haven’t yet seen that also Russia will stick to it.” She added that she would also welcome a ceasefire covering “people not being killed, not only energy.”

The ceasefire claim arrives amid a separate dispute over a deal Trump struck with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday for the United States to buy Russian diesel, aimed at high fuel prices before the midterm elections. Ukrainian and European officials say the deal would help fund Russia’s war effort. Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna doubted it would lower fuel prices, calling it “much more connected to the domestic situation in the U.S.” Trump has blamed Zelenskyy for high US diesel prices, citing Ukraine’s strikes on Russian refineries, and on Saturday said it was time for Ukraine to get a new president. Reuters has reported criticism of the diesel deal from lawmakers of both parties, though NordoVista could not open that report.

What would count as proof
Both military and diplomatic questions are consequential. Attacks on energy systems can disrupt electricity, heating and essential services for civilians, while sanctions policy affects the resources available to sustain the war. The next meaningful evidence will be whether both governments explicitly accept the same terms and whether independently documented attacks on energy facilities decline. Until then, the competing statements remain claims about diplomacy, not proof that attacks on energy infrastructure have stopped.