Ukraine Says Russia Broke Trump's Energy Ceasefire Within Hours

Updated 16:43 UTC, Oct 13: President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday that Ukraine received no warning from its partners before a Russian ballistic missile attack on Kyiv on Monday night. Five missiles hit civilian infrastructure in the capital, and air raid alerts sounded only after explosions had already been heard, Reuters reported. Zelenskiy said early warning intelligence on missile launches saves lives. He stopped short of linking the missing warning to reported United States threats to cut intelligence sharing if Ukraine keeps striking Russian refineries.

Zelenskiy also said a residential building in Kharkiv was destroyed overnight. Four people were killed there and 41 people were injured in Kharkiv in one evening, he said. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, speaking at the Warsaw Security Forum, said Ukraine was still receiving United States military intelligence and that the delay was due to the type of weapon Russia used. Reuters reported that Russia hit no Ukrainian energy targets overnight, the first night since President Donald Trump announced an energy ceasefire on Sunday, but struck transport and logistics sites with missiles and drones. Zelenskiy said Ukraine had not struck Russian refineries in the two days since the announcement.

Updated 23:25 UTC: Russia's foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, rejected the ceasefire outright on Monday. Asked about Trump's announcement, Lavrov dismissed the idea as an attempt by President Volodymyr Zelensky to win a pause to regroup and rearm, and said Zelensky did not deserve a respite. Moscow has still not confirmed that it agreed to anything.

Zelensky gave fuller casualty figures later on Monday. He said Russian drones struck a gas production facility around midnight and hit at least five other energy targets, with 33 people reported wounded across the country. A large strike on the Kharkiv region on Sunday night hit a power plant and killed three people and wounded nine others, including children, he told Fox News. Zelensky said Ukraine supports the idea of an energy ceasefire but sees no sign that Russia is complying, and he called on Washington to press Moscow to follow the terms Trump announced.

KYIV, Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday that Russia had already broken the "energy ceasefire" President Donald Trump announced less than a day earlier, telling the Warsaw Security Forum that Russian strikes hit Ukrainian power plants and gas facilities hours after Trump's social media declaration.

Trump said on Sunday that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to an immediate halt to attacks on energy infrastructure. "Effective immediately, there is an ENERGY CEASEFIRE in the War between Russia and Ukraine. Both parties have agreed. Do not break it!" he wrote on social media on Sunday morning.

The announcement caught Kyiv off guard. Zelensky said he learned of it from the news and had not been told in advance. "We support it, but I have not heard approval of this proposal from the Russian side," he said, speaking by video link to the Warsaw gathering. Moscow then stayed silent. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters only that "contacts are continuing" and refused to confirm any agreement.

Then Zelensky detailed the violations. Shortly after Trump's announcement, Russia struck a power plant in Kharkiv, he said. "Last night, Russian oil refineries were not burning, but at midnight, a Russian jet-powered Shahed struck a gas production facility in Ukraine," Zelensky said. He added that Ukraine had launched no attacks on Russian refineries overnight and would honor the truce if Russia did. If Moscow refused, he warned, Ukraine would "respond."

Why it matters

The war's energy front has become its most consequential battleground for ordinary people on both sides. Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries have disrupted fuel supplies inside Russia for weeks. Russian strikes on Ukrainian power plants threaten heating as winter approaches. A real halt would spare civilians in both countries. A fake one leaves Kyiv bound by a promise Moscow never made.

The episode also matters because it unfolded alongside direct American pressure on Ukraine. Over the weekend, US officials warned Kyiv and European allies that Washington could suspend intelligence sharing and European purchases of American weapons for Ukraine if the refinery strikes continue. The Financial Times first reported the warnings; CNN confirmed them with two European officials, who said the messages came from the State Department and the Pentagon, including direct contact from the US military to Ukrainian commanders. One European official called the threat a "sad day" for Ukraine and its allies, describing the intelligence and weapons channels as vital.

The context

On Friday, the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control issued General Licence No. 135, authorizing certain transactions involving the sale, delivery and import of diesel fuel of Russian origin, an authorization that runs until April 7, 2027. Trump explained the move as a way to increase diesel supply and curb price rises. Zelensky criticized the easing, warning it could give Russia more money for the war. European officials warned the extra energy revenue could sustain Moscow's fighting.

On Saturday, Trump warned Zelensky that he had "better damn well stop" attacking Russian refineries and urged Ukrainians to choose a new president. Elections have been suspended in Ukraine since the 2022 invasion; Zelensky said he would call a vote if Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to a 60-day ceasefire.

Trump has blamed the refinery strikes for a rise in diesel prices that he says is hurting his party ahead of US midterm elections. Zelensky rejected that claim, saying "everybody in the world" knows the Middle East war is the bigger factor in fuel prices. On Monday, Europe chose a different direction. EU foreign ministers adopted nearly 1,600 new sanctions listings targeting Russia's military-industrial complex, the largest expansion of the EU sanctions list since the war began, according to EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas. She said more than half the listings connect to the production chain for ballistic missiles, and she urged Washington to keep pressure on Moscow. Later Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Zelensky did not deserve a ceasefire. "I do not believe he has earned such a respite, nor do I think we will once again fall for assurances and promises," he said in a video address.

Key numbers

• Nearly 1,600: new EU sanctions listings targeting Russia's military-industrial complex, adopted October 12.
• More than 80: Ukrainian civilians killed by Russian strikes over the past two days, according to EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas.
• At least 12: people wounded in Russian attacks on Kharkiv on Monday morning, according to the city's mayor.
• April 7, 2027: expiry date of the US Treasury's General Licence No. 135 easing Russian diesel transactions.

What happens next

Zelensky said the energy ceasefire "can work, and can become a major step toward ending the war" if the United States makes sure Russia respects it. But with Moscow refusing to confirm the agreement and Lavrov dismissing it outright, the deal exists for now only in Trump's social media post. The real question is what Washington does next: whether the threat to cut intelligence sharing and weapons purchases was leverage to force the truce, or a sign that US support for Ukraine is being recast as a transaction over pump prices. Ukraine's winter, and Europe's sanctions machinery, are both moving. The ceasefire, so far, is not.