Russia’s Defense Ministry on Wednesday accused Ukraine of violating a 30-day pause on attacks against energy infrastructure, which Moscow claims has been in effect for more than a week.
The accusations follow earlier reports that Ukraine and Russia agreed in principle to halt strikes on energy targets after U.S.-mediated talks. On Tuesday night, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the ceasefire “can start today,” though it was not immediately clear whether he officially ordered his military to stop attacks on energy infrastructure.
Russia’s military claimed Ukrainian drone strikes over the past 24 hours caused power outages for thousands of residents in the border regions of Kursk and Bryansk. It added that other drones were intercepted while attempting to strike an underground gas storage facility off the coast of annexed Crimea.
“By continuing to damage Russia’s civilian energy infrastructure, the Kyiv regime is doing everything to disrupt the Russian-American agreements on step-by-step measures to resolve the Ukrainian conflict,” the ministry said.
Regional authorities in the Kursk and Bryansk regions did not report any power outages.
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a 30-day halt on strikes against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure starting March 18, following a highly anticipated phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump.
The White House, in its turn, said that Trump and Putin “agreed that the movement to peace will begin with an energy and infrastructure ceasefire.”
After U.S.-Ukrainian talks on Sunday and U.S.-Russian talks on Monday in Saudi Arabia, both the White House and Kremlin said officials had agreed to “develop measures” to implement and enforce a pause on striking energy facilities, raising questions about whether Putin had actually ordered his military to halt such attacks.
Zelensky accused Russia last week of continuing its attacks on Ukrainian energy sites “despite Putin’s words,” though Ukraine itself had not agreed to implement the energy ceasefire at that point.
Moscow has sought to end Ukrainian strikes on its oil and gas industry, a key source of revenue for the Russian government. So, too, has Ukraine, whose energy grid has been battered in repeated Russian strikes since the 2022 invasion, pressed for a halt to the attacks.
On Wednesday, Zelensky denounced Russia for launching 117 drones over Ukraine overnight.
“Launching such large-scale attacks after ceasefire negotiations is a clear signal to the whole world that Moscow is not going to pursue real peace,” Zelensky wrote on social media.
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