Ukraine Resumes Strikes on Russian Oil Refineries Despite US Pressure as Oleshky Ceasefire Ends

Kyiv: Ukraine has resumed long-range drone strikes on Russian oil refineries, defying pressure from US President Donald Trump ahead of the American midterm elections, as a six-day humanitarian ceasefire in the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky came to an end on Sunday night.

According to Russian state media, Ukrainian drones set the Kstovo refinery in Nizhny Novgorod oblast ablaze overnight on Sunday. The attack followed a major strike on another large refinery in Samara oblast, owned by Russian state energy company Rosneft. Satellite imagery showed smoke rising from the Novokuybyshevsk refinery in the Samara region after the reported drone attack on Friday.

The Wall Street Journal had earlier reported that Kyiv had yielded to White House pressure to halt strikes on Russian energy infrastructure. However, Ukrainian officials told the Kyiv Independent that they had never accepted a request from Jared Kushner, the US president’s son-in-law, to suspend refinery attacks for 30 days. Kremlin officials said the strikes resumed on Friday and accused Kyiv of “simply ignoring” Washington’s wishes.

President Trump has held Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy responsible for rising global fuel prices and last month lifted US sanctions on Russian diesel.

Zelenskyy has not publicly acknowledged the latest refinery strikes, apparently seeking to avoid a backlash from Washington. Instead, he announced that Ukrainian forces had struck a missile-producing defence industry facility in Russia’s Rostov region and destroyed a Pantsir air defence system, describing the operations as part of Ukraine’s ongoing “long-range sanctions.”

The Ukrainian president said his country had no choice but to respond to Moscow’s relentless drone and ballistic missile campaign against urban energy infrastructure. Russian attacks hit four Ukrainian regions overnight, leaving hundreds of thousands of households without electricity. Writing on Telegram, Zelenskyy warned that the strikes were highly intense and that Russia was attempting to exploit Ukraine’s shortage of interceptors for ballistic missiles. Kyiv faced power outages of eight to ten hours on Sunday after a key thermal power plant was damaged.

Zelenskyy further claimed that Russia suffered record losses in October, with 54,400 troops killed or wounded, the highest monthly toll since the full-scale invasion began. He added that Ukraine regained 96.2 square kilometres of territory during the month, 10.4 square kilometres more than Russian forces captured, declaring: “Russia is losing.”

The renewed strikes coincided with the conclusion of a local ceasefire in Oleshky brokered by US First Lady Melania Trump. Over the weekend, hundreds of evacuated residents were reunited with their families in northern Ukraine, and both sides described the evacuation effort as a success.

Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, confirmed that the truce, in force from 27 October to 1 November, had ended, calling it a significant step in joint humanitarian efforts.