Ukraine has lifted its restrictions on strikes against Russian oil refineries and other energy infrastructure, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the Financial Times on October 15, 2026. “The ban has been lifted. We’ve had enough,” he said.
A pause that was not returned
Kyiv had refrained from energy strikes for three days at Washington’s request. Zelenskyy said Russia continued attacking Ukraine’s energy infrastructure throughout the pause and killed more than 100 civilians in the past week.
Warnings and Starlink
He said Ukraine had stopped receiving US early warnings of Russian ballistic missile launches and that Starlink performance had deteriorated. According to Zelenskyy, US officials had warned that intelligence sharing could be blocked unless Kyiv halted energy strikes; Ukraine was later told the disruption was technical. “This was not a technical problem, it was a matter of will,” he said.
Conditions for restraint
Zelenskyy said Ukraine could again hold back from energy strikes, even if Russia kept attacking, but only with significantly stronger air defences, at a minimum more Patriot interceptors.
Kremlin response
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow had not received details of the energy ceasefire announced by Donald Trump and therefore could not be accused of violating it.
Sources
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