The key facts

  • Zelensky: more than 15 critical energy facilities hit, restoration work is underway
  • Russian Defense Ministry confirmed strikes on a substation in Zhytomyr and steel plants
  • Trump canceled sanctions on Russian energy revenues two days before they were to take effect

Strikes on the energy sector

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that Russia is intensifying attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, seeking to leave the country without electricity and heating as winter approaches. According to him, one of the largest strikes on the energy sector since the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022 was carried out the day before. “More than 15 critical power generation and transmission facilities were hit in different regions of Ukraine,” Zelensky wrote on X. He added that restoration work is ongoing with all resources of energy companies engaged, and called on allies to put pressure on Moscow.

Statements from the Russian side

Russia's Defense Ministry said that several infrastructure facilities in Ukraine were attacked overnight, including an electrical substation in Zhytomyr, as well as the largest steel plant in Kryvyi Rih, which supplied products to the Ukrainian defense industry, and another steel plant in Zaporizhzhia. Ukrainian authorities reported that a Russian airstrike on Kherson killed an ambulance driver and wounded 19 people, including a child. TASS, citing its own information, reported the death of a woman as a result of Ukrainian drone strikes in the Belgorod region, with one more man injured.

Reaction to the lifting of US sanctions

Zelensky also criticized US President Donald Trump's decision to cancel a package of new sanctions against Moscow: “The US sanctions blackout, reduced pressure on the aggressor, financial rewards for Putin — all of this only encourages him to continue his attacks.” On Friday, Trump signed an executive order canceling sweeping US sanctions and tariffs targeting Russia's energy revenues, two days before they were due to take effect. Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev called the suspension of the “Graham Act” (named after the late senator, author of the bill) “an important and truly historic moment,” adding that the act “would have caused serious damage primarily to the US economy and global markets.” It is noted that Trump's decision coincided with his intensified criticism of Zelensky, which, according to observers, fuels assumptions about the US drawing closer to Moscow.