The aftermath of the attack on Slovyansk in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday evening. Photo: the Donetsk regional prosecutor’s office / Telegram
The Russian Defence Ministry has accused the Ukrainian military of “sabotaging” a US-brokered moratorium on energy infrastructure attacks by striking an oil facility in southern Russia’s Krasnodar region less than 24 hours after a mutual 30-day cessation was agreed.
The ministry also said that, on orders from Vladimir Putin, the Russian military had shot down seven of their own attack drones targeting Ukrainian energy infrastructure overnight, adding that six had been shot down by a Pantsir air defence system, while another one was shot down by a Russian Air Force fighter jet.
According to the Defence Ministry, three Ukrainian drones attacked an oil storage facility near the Krasnodar region village of Kavkazskaya in the early hours of Wednesday morning. The strike came just hours after US President Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin spoke at length about possible ways to end the war in Ukraine, during which Putin agreed to a mutual halt to strikes on energy infrastructure for 30 days.
“It is clear that this is yet another specially timed provocation from the Kiev regime aimed at sabotaging the US president’s peace initiatives,” the Defence Ministry said, adding that the attack had caused a fire at the facility, though no casualties were reported.
However, Russia appears to have violated the energy infrastructure ceasefire itself, despite the Defence Ministry’s claims, with Ukrainian Railways reporting on Wednesday morning that Russian drones had damaged a railway power system in the Dnipropetrovsk region.
At around the same time as the call between Putin and Trump was taking place, an energy facility in the city of Slovyansk in eastern Ukraine was attacked by Russian drones, leaving part of the city without power, the Donetsk regional prosecutor’s office reported, adding that the attack had taken place at 8:50pm. According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russia launched a total of six missiles and 145 drones at 12 regions of Ukraine overnight.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a post on X on Wednesday that Russia had continued its nighttime attacks on Ukraine despite formally agreeing to a ceasefire, adding that while Ukraine was ready to adhere to it, Kyiv would not “remain silent” if Russia breached the agreement.
US and Russian delegations are due to meet again in Saudi Arabia on Sunday, where, according to US Presidential Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, the parties plan to discuss the details of a permanent ceasefire.
