Kiev has targeted energy facilities in Russia in violation of the US-brokered partial ceasefire, the military says
The Ukrainian military has launched new attacks on Russia’s energy facilities, despite claiming it complies with a US-brokered truce on such strikes, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.
Two incidents have been registered in Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukrainian drones targeted a substation and damaged a power line in the area, the military said. The attacks inflicted material damage and cut some 1,500 customers off the grid, it added.
“The Ukrainian Armed Forces are systematically launching strikes with drones and artillery systems on Russian energy infrastructure against the backdrop of statements by various representatives of the Kiev regime, starting with [Vladimir] Zelensky, about compliance with restrictions on strikes on Russian energy facilities,” the ministry said.
Later in the day, Luganskgaz, an energy company operating in Russia’s Lugansk Republic, reported a Ukrainian drone attack on one of its facilities. The attack hit a gas distribution station, sparked a fire and disrupted supply to more than 11,000 customers, the company said in a statement. Gas supply has already been partially restored after the attack, it added.
Ukraine violates the US-brokered energy truce on a daily basis, the ministry claimed.
The partial ceasefire was proposed by US President Donald Trump during a phone call with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in March. The Russian leader accepted the proposal, immediately ordering the country’s troops to halt such attacks. At the time, the Russian military said it had to shoot down seven of its own kamikaze drones that were en route to Ukraine’s energy facilities when the order was issued.
Last week, Moscow revealed a comprehensive list of energy facilities subject to the 30-day truce. The agreement could be prolonged, Russia has noted, adding that if either party violates the deal, the other can consider itself free from any obligations.
Zelensky publicly backed the idea of the truce shortly after it was first announced, appearing to reiterate his commitment to the deal last week. However, the Ukrainian leader never publicly mentioned any specific orders to the country’s military despite hailing the truce as a purported “victory” for Kiev.
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