Zelensky announces resumption of attacks on Russian refineries

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the Financial Times that Ukraine will resume attacks on Russian oil refineries. Bloomberg reports this, citing the interview given by the president to the British outlet. This is a topic not addressed in this newspaper’s edition this morning, which had focused on the Saudi front of the Houthi attack and on the economic issues of the European Council: here we report for the first time on a parallel development in the conflict in Ukraine.

Zelensky also expressed anger over what he described as a reduction in US intelligence shared with Kyiv, and a concurrent weakening of the Starlink satellite service, precisely during days of intensifying Russian attacks.

From the start of October 14 until nine in the morning on October 15, Russia launched over 850 Shahed drones against Ukraine, according to Zelensky himself as reported by Glavnoe.in.ua. The attacks killed at least six people between the city of Kropyvnytskyi and the Dnipropetrovsk region, with the sources consulted not currently providing a more precise breakdown of casualties between the two areas hit.

The Ukrainian president links the intensification of the bombardments to what he describes as a deliberate choice by Moscow, related in his view to an easing of international sanctions and to an attempt to exert pressure on the government in Kyiv at the current stage of diplomatic relations between the parties.

The statement on the resumption of raids against the refineries introduces a further element into the framework of the conflict: not only defense against Russian attacks, but the announcement of a return to Ukrainian offensive operations against Moscow’s oil infrastructure, after a period in which such attacks had been less frequent.

The reference to Starlink adds a supplementary dimension to the matter. Zelensky noted a reduction in American intelligence shared with the Ukrainian military precisely as the satellite service, used for military and civilian communications in the country, reportedly underwent a weakening. The president described this combination of factors as dangerous, occurring at the moment of peak intensity of the Russian bombardments of recent hours, those that hit Kropyvnytskyi and the Dnipropetrovsk region.

At present, the two sources cited — the interview with the Financial Times reported by Bloomberg and Glavnoe.in.ua’s account of Zelensky’s statements — remain the available information base on this development, with no additional official tallies from Russia regarding Ukrainian intentions toward the refineries.