Zelensky says Ukraine resuming strikes on Russian oil refineries after three-day US-requested pause
In an interview with the Financial Times published on 15 October, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine is lifting its moratorium on strikes against Russian oil refineries, declaring "the ban has been lifted. We've had enough." He said Ukraine had paused strikes on Russian energy infrastructure for three days at Washington's request while Russia kept attacking and killed more than 100 Ukrainian civilians in the past week. Zelensky said Ukraine received no US early-warning about Russian ballistic missile strikes on Kyiv during the pause, that Starlink/Starshield terminals were restricted in ways that hampered drone operations, and that he regarded both as political decisions rather than technical failures. Trump publicly said intelligence sharing with Ukraine was continuing and announced an "energy ceasefire" on 11 October; the Financial Times characterised the episode as the most serious crisis between Kyiv and Washington since the February 2025 Oval Office dispute.
Key points
- Zelensky announced resumption of strikes on Russian oil refineries in an FT interview published 15 October, saying "the ban has been lifted. We've had enough."
- Ukraine paused strikes on Russian energy infrastructure for three days at the request of the United States, during which Zelensky said Russia killed more than 100 Ukrainian civilians in the past week.
- Zelensky said Ukraine did not receive US advance warnings about Russian ballistic missile strikes on Kyiv on the nights of 12 and 13 October.
- He said Starlink/Starshield restrictions imposed by SpaceX on 14 October affected Ukrainian drone operations and rejected the "technical malfunction" explanation as "political will."
- On 12 October, US intelligence officials warned the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington that intelligence sharing would be halted if Ukraine struck Russian energy facilities; Trump publicly said sharing was continuing and the European Commission said it saw no signs it had stopped.
- Zelensky said Ukraine could agree to halt strikes on Russian energy infrastructure again only in exchange for additional US Patriot interceptors.
- The Financial Times described the episode as the most serious crisis in Ukraine–US relations since the February 2025 Oval Office dispute.
Why it matters
The episode crystallises what the Financial Times called the most serious crisis in Kyiv–Washington relations since the February 2025 Oval Office dispute. It ties together three previously separate pressure points — Ukrainian long-range strikes on Russian oil refineries, US intelligence sharing with Ukraine, and the Starlink/Starshield military satellite-internet service that Ukrainian forces depend on for drone operations — into a single confrontation over how Ukraine is allowed to fight. It also overlaps with the Trump administration's parallel engagement with Moscow, including the 9 October announcement of a deal allowing Russian diesel exports and the 11 October "energy ceasefire" claim, which Ukrainian officials read as accommodating the Kremlin. European leaders publicly broke with Washington's framing, with the EU's Kaja Kallas calling strikes on Russian refineries legitimate self-defense, deepening the political fault line inside the Western coalition.
What happened
In an interview with the Financial Times published on 15 October, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine is resuming strikes on Russian oil refineries, declaring "the ban is lifted. We've had enough." He said Ukraine had paused strikes on Russian energy infrastructure for three days at the request of the United States; during that period, Russia continued attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure and killed more than 100 civilians in the past week, according to Zelensky. He said Ukraine did not receive US advance warning about Russian ballistic missile strikes on Kyiv on the nights of 12 and 13 October, and that SpaceX/Starshield speed restrictions imposed on 14 October hampered drone operations. Zelensky rejected the US "technical malfunction" explanation, calling the disruptions "political will." On 12 October, US intelligence officials warned the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington that intelligence sharing would be immediately halted if Ukraine struck Russian energy facilities; by the time of reporting, intelligence sharing had not been fully stopped but the threat remained active. Trump publicly said intelligence sharing was continuing, and the European Commission said it saw no signs it had stopped. Zelensky said Ukraine could agree to halt strikes on Russian energy infrastructure again only in exchange for additional US Patriot interceptors. The Financial Times described the episode as the most serious crisis in Ukraine–US relations since the February 2025 Oval Office dispute.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
Ukrainian-language coverage centres Zelensky's interview announcement, foregrounds the three-day Ukrainian pause, and frames the US steps — intelligence warnings, Starshield restrictions, the energy-ceasefire claim, and the Russian diesel license — as concessions to Moscow that endanger Ukraine. Ukrainian outlets lay particular stress on the Lytvyn denial of Moscow's 14 October refinery-strike claim, on Zelensky's line that "we did not destroy any relationships," and on his warning that any next US–Russia deal could concern gas. The recurring framing across the cluster is that the episode is the worst crisis in ties with Kyiv's most important security partner since the February 2025 Oval Office dispute.
How international sources describe it
Outside Ukraine the story has split along predictable lines. The EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, called Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries legitimate self-defense under international law because oil revenues fund the war; the prime ministers of Sweden, Lithuania and Estonia backed the strikes, while Bulgaria's prime minister opposed strikes on any oil or energy facilities, including Russian attacks on Ukraine. International reporting tends to contrast Trump's public insistence that intelligence sharing continues and his goal of ending the war against Washington-based reporting in the Financial Times and The Washington Post about US threats to halt that sharing if Kyiv kept striking Russian energy targets. The lone non-Ukrainian source in the set, Azerbaijan's APA, carries only a brief, neutral headline without the surrounding US–Ukraine confrontation context.
Background
On 22 September 2026 Zelensky and Trump met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, and Trump asked Zelensky why Ukraine was striking Russian oil refineries. On 9 October Trump announced what he called an "extremely successful" conversation with Vladimir Putin and a deal for Russia to supply more than 300,000 tonnes of diesel fuel, followed by a US Treasury OFAC temporary general license. On 11 October Trump posted on Truth Social announcing an "energy ceasefire" between Ukraine and Russia taking effect immediately; per Zelensky, Ukraine first heard of the announcement from journalists and was ready to comply only if Russia did the same. Axios reported that the scope of the ceasefire was limited to mutual halts on strikes on oil refineries, not energy infrastructure broadly. IEA data cited by reporting in the cluster said that as of the end of August, only 5 of Russia's 32 largest oil refineries had avoided Ukrainian drone attacks, and that some facilities have been hit up to 15 times since 2022.