Trump freezes sanctions on Russia, while the night brings new attacks on Ukraine

This morning we reported on the chaos following the announcement of an energy truce between Russia and Ukraine attributed to Donald Trump: Zelensky saying he had not been informed, Moscow and Washington with differing versions. In the afternoon two developments arrive that do not clarify the situation, but complicate it on two separate fronts: US sanctions and the battlefield.

The first concerns a White House decision. On October 16 Donald Trump signed an executive order suspending the application of tariffs and certain sanctioning provisions under the Graham Act, the law that tightens measures against Russia and Iran. Section 4 of the order specifically suspends the tariffs under sections 112 and 113 of the law, along with sanctioning provisions aimed at foreign persons and restrictions on individuals. The White House clarifies, however, that the sanctions and other measures previously adopted against activities deemed harmful by the Russian government remain in force: this is therefore not a general revocation, but a suspension targeted at a specific part of the most recent sanctions framework.

The Ukrainian reaction came on the same day, October 17. According to a report by Associated Press from Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelensky asked his supporters to defend the new US sanctions after the suspension ordered by Trump — an appeal that signals how much Kyiv considers those measures a negotiating lever worth preserving, precisely as the White House eases part of them.

The second development concerns the battlefield. On the night between October 16 and 17 Russia struck nine Ukrainian regions, including Kharkiv, Kramatorsk, Volyn and Rivne. The attacks killed at least eight people and wounded about sixty, according to Ukrainian regional authorities. In Kharkiv a 71-year-old woman and a 58-year-old man were killed and twelve people were wounded in attacks that hit three districts of the city.

On the air defense front, Ukrainian forces stated they shot down 289 of the 332 drones launched by Russia overnight, including jet-propelled attack drones — a detail that signals an evolution in the tools used by Moscow compared to previous waves. According to Ukraine’s Ministry of Energy, the attacks are part of a campaign against the country’s power grid ahead of winter.

The two pieces of news — the partial suspension of US sanctions and the intensity of Russian attacks on the Ukrainian energy grid — run on separate tracks and do not fit into a single narrative: we do not know whether Washington’s decision is linked to the negotiations over the alleged energy truce discussed this morning, nor whether the Russian campaign against infrastructure is a response to that announcement or its independent continuation. What is verifiable are the two distinct facts: an executive order signed on October 16 that partially suspended measures against Moscow, and nine Ukrainian regions hit the following night, with a toll of at least eight dead and over a million people without electricity.