Ukrainian forces struck a Russian oil refinery on Thursday, with President Volodymyr Zelensky stating that a short-lived moratorium on attacks against energy infrastructure had been disregarded by Moscow — a development he described as a betrayal by former US President Donald Trump. Fire took hold at the petroleum facility in the Ryazan region — approximately 300 kilometres, or around 180 miles, to the southeast of Moscow — following a drone strike on the site, an account corroborated by both the Russian Defence Ministry and Ryazan Governor Pavel Malkov. One outlet shared an image it described as showing the fire.
The incident introduced a new point of tension into ties between Kyiv and Washington that had already been under strain in the days leading up to it. Zelensky expressed anger over the continued targeting of energy infrastructure from the air, a pattern he said persisted despite a call from Trump over the weekend for both parties to stop such strikes. Zelensky stated that, even as Ukraine went along with the ceasefire request, Western intelligence on incoming Russian ballistic missiles had stopped reaching his forces in the preceding days, and restrictions had been placed on how Ukrainian units could use Starlink terminals supplied by the United States. Ukrainian armed forces depend on both capabilities to sustain their operations.
In a Thursday interview aired on a prominent broadcast outlet, Zelensky stated that strikes on Russian oil refineries would restart, adding that his tolerance for the current situation had been exhausted. An individual within Ukraine's government, granted anonymity due to lacking clearance for public statements, told reporters that Ukrainian forces had struck the refinery. On Thursday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters that attacks on refineries by Ukrainian forces had continued without interruption. Outside corroboration of the accounts put forward by both parties was not available to journalists at the time.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov characterised Ukraine's oil infrastructure strikes as a deliberate provocation targeting Trump. A separate point of contention centres on a fuel-import arrangement Trump concluded with Putin — one that sits at odds with the sanctions framework and diplomatic measures the international community has maintained in response to the war in Ukraine. Zelensky took a firm stance against the proposed agreement, contending that it would give Russia room to press on with its military operations in Ukraine, a conflict now entering its fifth year. Diplomatic efforts by the Trump administration toward ending the conflict have yet to yield a breakthrough.
In a late-Wednesday appearance on Piers Morgan's YouTube channel, Zelensky told the host that he felt let down by Trump, pointing to three specific matters: the energy ceasefire arrangement negotiated with Putin, and restrictions placed on Starlink access that had limited Ukrainian drone operations. When asked whether he felt let down by the president, Zelensky answered in the affirmative, describing the exchange as a private one, while also telling a news outlet that his country's survival depended on its relationship with the United States and Trump as a strategic partner.
Zelensky described the conduct of the United States — including its restrictions on the Starlink system — as "really strange," and in the same interview characterised his country as losing a valuable ally, adding that it was painful to see President Trump align with the other side rather than Ukraine's. He went on to say that the arrangement worked in their favour. Zelensky contended that an outside party was steering Trump toward a position he described as being on the wrong side of history.
Trump, in a televised interview that Thursday, expressed open disapproval of the Ukrainian leader — taking issue with the resumption of drone and missile attacks on Russian energy facilities and with Zelensky's resistance to reaching a settlement with Vladimir Putin — stating that Zelensky was not someone he found easy to work with and that his regard for him was limited. Trump went on to characterise Zelensky as harder to negotiate with than Putin, called for Ukraine to hold an election to replace him, and pointed to Russia's territorial size as giving it an advantage on the battlefield — remarks that came after a statement attributing the country's devastation to those two leaders' actions.
The president, whose interview did not cover Starlink or intelligence-sharing topics, went on to say that Ukraine's military hardware ranked among the finest available, attributing that advantage to its American origin. Elon Musk addressed that claim separately on X, where he pointed out that Starshield, the defence-oriented variant of Starlink, sits under the operational authority of the US military and the president. No clarification from SpaceX, which operates the Starlink satellite network, or from the Pentagon had been passed along to the Ukrainian official regarding the service reduction. An individual in a position of authority, granted anonymity by the news organisation, addressed a matter the parties involved deemed too sensitive for open attribution. Requests directed at the Pentagon about the pace of the slowdown drew no response from the department, including those put forward by a prominent broadcast news outlet.
Reduced access to Western intelligence has left Ukrainian forces with a narrower window for detecting and intercepting incoming Russian ballistic missiles. The president stated that intelligence-sharing with Ukraine has not been halted.
Zelensky travelled to Brussels on Thursday to hold talks with EU leaders gathered for a two-day summit, as questions mounted over whether the Trump administration would continue backing Ukraine. Scheduled talks were set to bring Zelensky together with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, French President Emmanuel Macron, and the prime ministers of Poland, Denmark, and Belgium. A day earlier, a stop in London produced commitments of additional support from UK officials.
When a reporter put the question of trust in Trump to Kaja Kallas, the bloc's foreign policy chief, she noted that the EU and the United States hold distinct positions on the conflict. Kallas told reporters that pressure should be directed at the party that initiated hostilities rather than at the one defending itself, and that placing the burden on Ukraine to concede ground runs counter to the position Europe has taken in standing alongside the country.
Three fatalities and six people wounded were recorded in the Kirovohrad region of central Ukraine on Thursday after drone activity attributed to Russia persisted across more than ten hours, according to a statement from the country's Emergency Services. In a post on X, Zelensky put the number of drones launched against Ukraine in the hours before Thursday at more than 850, adding in the same message that the pace of drone defence development was being held back — a remark that many observers took as an allusion to restrictions on Starlink access for drone operations.
Zelensky stated that drone interceptions by air defence units numbered 536 across an overnight operation spanning 15 regions, though strikes were confirmed at 31 separate sites. He called on the United States to align with efforts aimed at protecting civilian lives, ending the conflict, and establishing lasting security guarantees, attributing the intensified aerial campaign to what he described as sanctions relief extended to the opposing side alongside external pressure placed on Ukraine. Zelensky also stated that a strike carried out by a Ukrainian missile left six aircraft at a southwestern Russian airfield out of service. He posted on social media that operations at extended range would continue, citing what he described as a deliberate prolonging of the conflict by Russia.
Russia's defence ministry reported that air-defence systems intercepted 166 Ukrainian drones through the night while ground forces struck two ships transporting military supplies.
