Ukraine Resumes Refinery Strikes as EU Backs Kyiv

Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the country will resume strikes on Russian oil refineries, while EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas defended the attacks as self-defence. Oil revenues help fund Russia’s war, she said. Their remarks come as Russia and Ukraine discuss an “energy ceasefire” and Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure continue, according to Kallas and Zelenskyy.

Oil revenues and the war

Kallas told Euronews that striking refineries was legitimate under international law because “that is where the funding comes from for this war to kill Ukrainian people every day.” She said oil provides most of the war’s financing, and argued the quickest way to stop the strikes is to end the war.

Ukraine targets Russian refineries, Kallas said, while Russia attacks Ukrainian energy infrastructure “to cause as much suffering for the Ukrainian people in the upcoming winter.” She described a war with a clear aggressor and victim, and said the United States should join Europeans in pressuring Russia, not Ukraine. The EU, she said, will keep supporting Kyiv, which hasn’t surrendered.

Her remarks followed US President Donald Trump’s announcement of a deal for Russia to supply more than 300,000 tonnes of diesel amid a global energy crunch. Trump also announced an “energy ceasefire” under which Russia and Ukraine would stop targeting each other’s energy infrastructure.

Strikes and pressure on Kyiv

Zelenskyy said Ukraine would restart attacks on Russian refineries. “The block (on attacking refineries) is out. We’re done,” he told the Financial Times in an interview published hours before the EU summit.

Ukraine’s Defence Ministry said Ukraine struck 12 major Russian refineries in September. By late August, only five of Russia’s 32 major refineries had escaped Ukrainian drone attacks, the International Energy Agency said. Some facilities had taken as many as 15 strikes since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022.

Zelenskyy confirmed that Ukraine halted strikes on Russian energy facilities for three days at Washington’s request. Moscow kept attacking Ukrainian infrastructure and killing civilians during that pause, he said.

US officials warned Ukrainian counterparts that intelligence-sharing would stop unless Kyiv halted its refinery strikes, Zelenskyy said. Officials presented the disruption that followed as a technical problem, but he rejected that account. “It was not a technical problem, it was the will,” he said.

Ceasefire boundaries disputed

The Kremlin questioned whether the two sides had established an energy ceasefire. On Wednesday, spokesperson Dmitry Peskov asked: “What was announced? What are the boundaries of the energy ceasefire? What does it mean? Was any of this specified?”

“That is why work in this direction is continuing,” Peskov added. His remarks came after the proposed halt to attacks on energy infrastructure was announced. Zelenskyy said Ukraine had already paused refinery strikes for three days at Washington’s request, while Kallas said Russia kept attacking Ukrainian energy infrastructure during that pause.