Russia accuses Ukraine of hitting two refineries, Kyiv calls claim fake

Russia's refinery claim

Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, who oversees the energy sector, said on Wednesday, 14 October, that Ukrainian drones had attacked two oil refineries in the Saratov and Ryazan regions. Interfax and Tass carried his account, in which he argued that the strikes showed Kyiv was not moving toward an energy ceasefire. Novak did not name the refineries and offered no evidence, and no independent confirmation of the attacks was available at the time. The two regions also appear in the Russian defence ministry's overnight summary, which reported that the drone raids were confirmed by eyewitnesses.

Kyiv and local officials dispute the claim

Dmytro Lytvyn, a communications adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky, told Ukrainska Pravda that no refineries had been attacked and called the Russian claim a fake. He said a data centre had been struck successfully and that other objects had been hit, but not refineries. Ukraine's General Staff had not reported strikes on Russian refineries in its official statements for the night to 14 October. The Insider said it found no confirmation of attacks on Russian energy facilities in the previous 24 hours. Its analysis of NASA FIRMS fire data showed fires in the Balakovo industrial zone, most of them near an under-construction Sberbank data centre and a metallurgical plant, and none near the large Saratov refinery. Saratov governor Roman Busargin confirmed a strike on the Sberbank data centre and reported damage to residential buildings but no damage to energy facilities. In Ryazan, governor Pavel Malkov said seven drones had been shot down and nobody was hurt, and neither local media nor Telegram channels reported any consequences.

Trump's energy ceasefire

Trump announced an energy ceasefire through a social media post over the weekend of 10 and 11 October, with accounts differing on the day. Zelensky said he had learned of the arrangement from that post and was ready to accept it if Russia did as well. Ukrainian reporting says Trump meant it to cover refinery strikes only, not all energy targets, and Trump has not directly answered questions about violations. Zelensky said Ukraine had suspended attacks on Russia's oil industry and expected Russia to halt attacks on Ukraine's energy supply. Trump is reported to be trying to stop strikes on Russian refineries, which he blames for high global diesel prices. Peskov said the day before, on 13 October, that there was no concrete detail on an energy truce. On Wednesday the Kremlin said no agreement had been concluded, so Russia could not be breaching it.

Strikes on Ukraine continue

Russian missiles and drones kept hitting Ukraine's energy system during the same days. Ukrenergo said Russian missiles had struck three thermal power plants in the Kyiv region overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday, causing supply outages. Russia's defence ministry reported strikes on energy and communications facilities that morning, with the number of targets given as seven in one account and eight in another. Named sites in the reports included the Darnytsia thermal plant and Kyiv thermal plant 5 in Kyiv, and the Trypilska thermal plant in the Kyiv region. Moscow continues to strike Ukraine with ballistic missiles and drones, while Russia says talks on an energy truce that would also bind Russia are still under way.