The Ukrainian president says Kyiv will increase attacks on Russian energy facilities that help finance the war while avoiding civilian targets, citing intelligence he says shows Moscow is preparing a broader winter bombing strategy against Ukrainian infrastructure.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv intends to intensify attacks on Russian oil refineries and other energy infrastructure, arguing that Ukraine must answer what he described as a new Russian strategy of expanding strikes against cities and civilian infrastructure as winter approaches.
Zelensky outlined the planned escalation during an interview with Reuters, saying Ukrainian intelligence had obtained documents that he said reveal a broader Russian air campaign authorized by President Vladimir Putin. The Ukrainian leader said the documents indicated Moscow had widened the types of infrastructure that could be attacked as part of an effort to disrupt daily life and push residents out of major population centers.
“We saw documents and we know that they allow them to attack infrastructure, logistics, and especially to attack in the cities, in the villages, everywhere, roads, schools, hospitals,” Zelensky said during the interview.
Zelensky:
We have to respond in any way to their attacks on our energy. We have to respond on their energy — first of all, oil refineries, etc., what gives them money for this war.
But we will not respond, of course, just like them, against civilian objects. We can’t do so, because we are another people.
We saw documents, and we know that they allow them to attack infrastructure.
— Clash Report (@clashreport) October 3, 2026
“To pressure people to leave the capital, leave different cities: this is the goal of the operation.”
Zelensky characterized the approach as a Russian “new doctrine” and said Kyiv believes its purpose extends beyond attacks on Ukraine’s military capability. He contended that Moscow is attempting to pressure the civilian population and divert attention from what he described as Russian battlefield setbacks.
Russia, meanwhile, has said its intensified strikes are retaliation for Ukrainian attacks against Russian territory and infrastructure. Moscow has denied deliberately targeting civilians, while Kyiv has likewise denied intentionally attacking Russian civilians. Russia said Oct. 3 that it planned to continue strikes on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities and urged foreign nationals and diplomatic personnel to leave Ukraine.
Zelensky said Ukraine’s response would concentrate on facilities tied to Russia’s ability to finance and sustain its military campaign, particularly the country’s oil-refining network.
“We have to respond in any way (we can). With their attacks on our energy, we have to respond on their energy. First of all, oil refineries etc: what gives money to them for this war,” Zelensky said in English.
“But we will not respond, of course, just like them, on any civilian objects.”
Ukraine has repeatedly used long-range drones to attack refineries, oil depots, pumping stations and other facilities deep inside Russia. Zelensky had already signaled earlier in 2026 that Kyiv intended to extend the reach of those operations, saying in April that Ukraine would continue increasing the range of domestically produced weapons after an attack on an oil pumping station approximately 1,500 kilometers, or 900 miles, inside Russia.
The strikes are designed in part to reduce Russian refining and export capacity and constrain energy revenue that Kyiv says supports Moscow’s war effort. Their significance has increased as global oil and refined-fuel markets face disruptions from multiple conflicts, with diesel supplies and refinery capacity under particular pressure.
Zelensky linked the planned refinery campaign to developments on the battlefield, pointing to a Ukrainian counteroffensive known as “Vivaldi.” He said Ukrainian troops had retaken more than 50 square miles of territory in the Donbas region during the operation.
Reuters reported that Zelensky put the recovered territory at about 140 square kilometers, or approximately 54 square miles, and said the operation remained underway. Russia has continued to demand control over the entirety of the Donbas as part of its conditions for a settlement, while Ukraine has rejected demands that it surrender territory Moscow has not captured.
The exchange of long-range attacks comes as President Donald Trump continues efforts to negotiate an end to the war, now in its fifth year. U.S. diplomatic initiatives have included direct contacts with Moscow and Kyiv, although substantial differences between the two sides over territory and the terms of a settlement remain unresolved. September talks between Putin and U.S. envoys lasted more than three hours but produced no announced breakthrough.
Trump has also urged Ukraine to refrain from striking Russian oil refineries and export facilities amid concern that disruptions to refining capacity are contributing to already elevated global fuel prices. Reuters reported that Trump raised the issue as energy markets confronted refinery outages, war-related disruptions and historically high diesel prices.
Zelensky nevertheless indicated that Kyiv views attacks on Russian energy infrastructure as an essential part of its military response, particularly if Moscow expands its winter campaign against Ukraine’s power grid, transportation system and other infrastructure.
At the same time, the Ukrainian president left open the possibility of direct diplomacy with Putin. Zelensky told Reuters he would be prepared to meet the Russian president at the upcoming Group of 20 gathering in Miami if such a meeting offered a realistic path toward negotiations.
His willingness to consider a meeting was accompanied by skepticism about Moscow’s intentions. Zelensky warned U.S. officials against what he called “illusions” that Russia genuinely wants to bring the war to an end, arguing that continued Russian military operations conflict with claims that Moscow is prepared for peace.
The competing signals — an expanded Ukrainian campaign against Russian energy facilities alongside continued discussion of possible negotiations — underscore Kyiv’s current strategy of maintaining military pressure while leaving a diplomatic channel open.
For Zelensky, the immediate calculation is that Russian energy infrastructure remains a legitimate military and economic target because of the revenue it generates for Moscow, while civilian locations remain outside the scope of the retaliatory campaign he described. Russia, for its part, has pledged to continue its own intensified strikes as the two countries enter another winter of the war.
Original article
Comments