Kyiv has ended a three-day hold on attacks against Russian fuel plants, arguing that Moscow never paused its own campaign against Ukrainian power grids and that US pressure had crossed a line. Within hours of that signal, fire broke out at a refinery in Russia’s Ryazan region, about 300 kilometres south-east of Moscow.
Governor Pavel Malkov confirmed the blaze; the Russian defence ministry said Ukrainian drones had tried a large strike on the site. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had already told the Financial Times that the self-imposed block on refinery targets was finished, summing it up with the blunt line: “We’re done.”
The pause itself traced back to Donald Trump’s unilateral declaration of an “energy ceasefire,” which both capitals disputed. Trump had eased the path for Russian diesel, demanded that Ukraine spare oil infrastructure, and publicly floated replacing Zelenskyy. At the same time Kyiv reported throttled Starshield satellite links and missing early warnings ahead of ballistic hits on the capital — tools it uses to shoot down drones and plan long-range raids.
A Ukrainian defence source told outlets that Starshield capacity was at least partly restored on Thursday morning. That did little to cool the political fallout. Zelenskyy told Piers Morgan he felt betrayed; Elon Musk posted that Starshield rules sit with the US military and ultimately Trump, and added that it was “time for Zelenskyy to go.”
European officials briefed that the mix of diesel diplomacy, intelligence gaps and satellite slowdowns looked like leverage ahead of winter peace talks. Whether renewed refinery raids again squeeze Russian fuel supplies will depend on how long Ukraine can keep launching them if US support stays unpredictable.
