Russia says Ukraine hit oil refineries violating ‘energy ceasefire’, Kyiv denies claim

MOSCOW: Russia on Wednesday said Ukrainian drones attacked two oil refineries and violated an “energy ceasefire” declared by US President Donald Trump but Kyiv dismissed it as a “fake” claim.

“Two oil refineries were attacked today by the Kyiv regime, in the Saratov and Ryazan regions,” Russian Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Alexander Novak was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.

Dmytro Lytvyn, an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said this was “fake” and that other sites had been hit “but the refineries were not”.

The Russian accusation came after Trump on Sunday caught both sides off guard by unilaterally declaring an “energy ceasefire”, days after easing sanctions on Moscow to enable diesel exports.

“We see that the Ukrainian side does not demonstrate movement towards an energy truce,” Novak said.

Kyiv meanwhile claims that Russia has repeatedly hit its energy facilities and critical infrastructure since Sunday with a barrage of powerful ballistic missiles and attack drones, with Zelensky accusing Russia of wilfully flouting Trump’s wishes.

He blasted the latest attack Wednesday as “entirely deliberate and demonstrative in its scale”, adding: “Russia has never before shown such ostentatious disrespect toward the United States”.

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