Ignoring pressure from Trump, Ukraine strikes Russian oil refineries again with long-range drones

Ukraine has struck Russian oil refineries again, ignoring pressure from US President Donald Trump. The Guardian reported the development on Monday (2 November); Russian officials accuse Kyiv of continuing attacks on energy infrastructure despite Washington's requests.

According to Russian state media, a Ukrainian long-range drone attack on Sunday night set fire to the Kstovo oil refinery in Russia's Nizhny Novgorod region. Earlier, Ukraine also struck another large refinery in the Samara region owned by the Russian state energy company Rosneft.

The Wall Street Journal had previously reported that Kyiv had agreed, under White House pressure, to stop attacks on Russian energy infrastructure. Ukrainian officials, however, told the Kyiv Independent that Kyiv never consented to a request from the US president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to pause refinery attacks for 30 days.

Russian officials claim Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries resumed on Friday. In this situation, the Kremlin accuses Kyiv of now ignoring the United States' request.

Trump, meanwhile, has blamed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the rise in global fuel prices. Last month he also lifted US sanctions on Russian diesel.

Zelenskyy made no direct comment on the recent attacks. He did, however, announce a strike on a missile-producing defence plant in Russia's Rostov region, claiming the operation also destroyed a Russian Pantsir missile defence system. He described such operations to weaken Russia's military capability as Ukraine's "long-range sanctions".

Zelenskyy said the counter-operations were a response to Russia's continued drone and ballistic missile attacks on critical energy facilities in Ukrainian cities. On Sunday night, too, Russian attacks disrupted power supplies in four Ukrainian regions, leaving several hundred thousand families without electricity.

He added that the intensity of Russia's attacks is far greater, and that Moscow is trying to take maximum advantage of gaps in defences against ballistic missiles. A key thermal power plant in the capital, Kyiv, was damaged, leaving parts of the city without power for eight to ten hours on Sunday.

Zelenskyy claimed that 54,400 Russian soldiers were killed or wounded in October — the heaviest monthly loss for Russian forces since the full-scale war began. In the same period, Ukraine recaptured 96.2 square kilometres of territory, while Russia seized 10.4 square kilometres less than that. In this situation, Zelenskyy said, "Russia is losing."