Kyiv says Russian strikes on energy facilities continue despite Trump's
'energy ceasefire'
[October 12, 2026]
By SAMYA KULLAB
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian officials said Monday that Russia has
continued to strike Ukraine's energy facilities even after U.S.
President Donald Trump announced a day earlier that the warring
countries had agreed on an “energy ceasefire” in the 4 1/2-year-old war.
A Monday statement from the Regional Prosecutor’s Office of Kharkiv in
northeastern Ukraine said Russian forces had attacked an energy facility
on the outskirts of the city. That came after Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday that while he “welcomed” Trump's
announcement, Russia was still hitting energy infrastructure in the
capital Kyiv and in Kharkiv.
Trump’s brief social media post on Sunday announcing the purported
agreement to mutually cease attacks on energy sites said only that the
ceasefire took effect immediately, adding: “Do not break it!”
Trump had also claimed in a social media post on Sept. 14 that both
countries had agreed “not to hit” each other’s energy infrastructure,
but offered no details on that proposal either and nothing came of the
purported agreement.
Russia has used attacks on energy facilities in order to deny Ukrainian
civilians power, heat and running water during the war, hoping to wear
down public resistance to Moscow’s full-scale invasion. Ukrainian
officials describe the strategy as “weaponizing winter.”
Ukraine, meanwhile, has leveled strikes against Russian energy sites
like oil refineries, sometimes deep within Russian territory. That's
prompted Trump to blame Zelenskyy for high diesel prices in the U.S.
only weeks before its midterm elections.
Moscow did not immediately comment on the purported deal. Zelenskyy said
Sunday that while his country “welcomed” the announcement by Trump as
“good news for everyone,” Russia was still hitting energy infrastructure
in Kyiv and in Kharkiv.
Zelenskyy said Kyiv was ready to comply with Trump's requests to stop
striking Russian refineries if Moscow halted attacks on Ukraine’s energy
system, and he asked Trump to press the Kremlin to agree.
EU foreign policy chief skeptical of energy ceasefire
The European Union’s top diplomat on Monday welcomed the prospect of a
pause in energy strikes in Ukraine, particularly as winter approaches,
but said she sees no sign that Russia would be willing to respect it.
“We haven’t yet seen that also Russia will stick to it,” EU foreign
policy chief Kaja Kallas said at a meeting of the bloc's foreign
ministers in Luxembourg. “Personally, I would also welcome that the
ceasefire would include people not being killed, not only energy.”
Kallas also emphasized the need for European countries to continue
supporting Ukraine's efforts to defend against Moscow's full-scale
invasion, even as Trump struck a deal on Friday with Russian President
Vladimir Putin for the U.S. to purchase diesel from Moscow in an attempt
to address high fuel prices ahead of U.S. midterm elections.
Ukrainian and European officials reacted to the diesel deal with dismay,
saying it will help pay for Russia’s war effort. On Monday, several EU
foreign ministers said the diesel deal is unlikely to bring energy
prices down, and appears aimed at helping Republicans win the midterm
elections.
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An injured man collects his personal belongings in front of his
house destroyed in a Russian strike on Kharkiv, Ukraine, Sunday,
Oct. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)
Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna told reporters in
Luxembourg that he doesn’t believe the deal “is actually going to
change anything” in terms of fuel prices, and that it is ”much more
connected to the domestic situation in the U.S."
Asked about Trump’s deal with Putin, Kallas said that only pressure
on Russia will be able to bring an end to the fighting.
“Russia has started this war,” she told reporters. “We should put
the pressure on Russia so that they will stop, because if they stop,
Ukrainians also don’t have to take any steps to defend their
country.”
Kallas also pushed back on Trump's comments on Saturday that it was
time for Ukraine to get a new president and that Zelenskyy has not
done enough to end the war. The EU's top diplomat said that now is
not the time to hold elections in Ukraine, at least not without a
ceasefire.
“If the pressure is put on Russia so that they will stop this war,
I’m sure that Ukraine will have elections,” she said.
Russian attack kills 3 and injures others, including children
A Russian drone attack on the village of Pisochyn in the Kharkiv
district on Sunday evening killed three people and injured nine
others, including children, according to the Kharkiv Regional
Prosecutor’s Office.
Investigators said the attack occurred at approximately 7:25 p.m.,
striking a densely populated area near apartment buildings and
grocery stores and sparking a fire.
Ukrainian air defense forces shot down or suppressed 89 of 121
Russian drones overnight Monday, Ukraine’s Air Force said in a
Telegram post. The attack involved one Kh-59 guided air-to-surface
missile and 121 drones, including 76 jet-powered Shahed-type drones,
the statement said.
Strikes were recorded at 15 locations in Ukraine, while debris from
downed drones fell at four locations.
The Russian Defense Ministry on Monday said its air defenses
overnight intercepted 151 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions as
well as the illegally annexed Crimea and the waters of the Black
Sea.
In a separate statement, the ministry said its forces overnight
carried out drone strikes on Ukraine’s unspecified port
infrastructure and a bulk carrier heading to Ukraine's port city of
Odesa with military cargo on board.
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Associated Press writer Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed.
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