Ukraine war briefing: Russia attacks multiple power plants after Trump energy ceasefire claim

12 Oct, 02:05. AU edition

Cars burn after a Russian strike on a residential neighbourhood in Kharkiv, where three people were killed on Sunday. A power plant in the north-eastern Ukrainian city was also hit. Photograph: Andrii Marienko/AP

Zelenskyy says Ukrainian skies filled with Russian drones after truce claim, which Moscow has yet to confirm, as six killed in strikes. What we know on day 1,692

Russian strikes hit multiple Ukrainian power plants after Donald Trump claimed both sides had agreed to stop hitting each other’s energy infrastructure, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. The Ukrainian president said on social media a drone had hit a power plant in Kyiv on Sunday, leading to power outages in the capital. Shortly after, he said there had been a strike on the CHP-5 power plant in the eastern city of Kharkiv, adding:“Ukrainian skies have been infested with Russian ‘shaheds’ [drones] all day.”
Trump said earlier that “effective immediately, there is an energy ceasefire in the war between Russia and Ukraine”. “Both parties have agreed. Do not break it!” the US president wrote on his Truth Social platform on Sunday morning in Washington, without further details. Zelenskyy expressed surprise at the announcement, saying the deal was “news to me” and he was seeking further details. Russia has yet to confirm it agreed.
The ceasefire appeared to garner support on Sunday from Ukraine’s key western allies, including the UK, France, Canada and the European Commission. British prime minister Andy Burnham said a sustained energy ceasefire was “the best route to get energy and fuel back into world markets”. French president Emmanuel Macron said Paris supported a “real energy ceasefire” between Russia and Ukraine.
Ukrainian officials said Russian ⁠attacks killed six people ⁠in two Ukrainian ⁠cities on Sunday, including a strike ⁠on a grocery store in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, where ‌three people died ‌and 20 were ‌injured. Two children were ‌among the injured, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said. In a separate attack in western Ukraine, officials said ‌a Russian strike killed three people.
Trump’s energy truce claim came two days after he announced a controversial agreement to buy Russian diesel fuel while temporarily easing US sanctions, prompting outrage from Ukraine and its European allies, who said it would embolden Moscow. Canadian prime minister Mark Carney added to the chorus of disapproval after a Sunday call with Zelenskyy, saying the diesel deal “is in direct opposition to the efforts of Ukraine, Canada and our allies to create peace and stability in Europe”. EU chief Ursula von der Leyen also backed Zelenskyy “as he leads the fight for his people’s freedom”, while Germany foreign minister Johann Wadephul said Berlin continued to “fully support” him.
Trump lashed out at Zelenskyy when asked about criticism of the Russia diesel deal, saying it was “time for Ukraine to get a new president” who would finally settle the war. Zelenskyy pushed back, telling US ABC News on Sunday: “First of all, with all respect to President Trump, it’s up to our society, up to our people to choose one or another leader.”
The Trump administration is threatening to stop the procurement system that provides Ukraine with weapons in order to press Kyiv to halt its deep strikes on Russian energy infrastructure, the Financial Times quoted officials in Europe as saying. The US was lobbying European capitals and Kyiv in an attempt to end the attacks on Russian oil refineries, they said.
A Ukrainian ⁠drone killed one ⁠person in Russia’s ⁠border Belgorod region on Sunday, ⁠officials said. The operational headquarters ⁠in Belgorod region said the drone struck a car on a road ‌near the border. In the part of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region ⁠held by Russian forces, Moscow-installed officials said one person ‌had been killed in a Ukrainian attack.
Russia’s military ⁠said it ⁠struck ⁠a logistics centre in southern Ukraine’s ⁠Mykolaiv region and a cargo vessel ⁠in the Black ‌Sea. The logistics centre in the town ‌of Ternivka was used to store military and dual-use cargoes for the ⁠Ukrainian military, the ‌Russian defence ministry ‌claimed on Sunday.