Russia has charged that Ukraine has continued deliberate strikes on Russian energy facilities, in violation of the 30-day agreement both warring sides made with President Trump last week, to temporarily halt such attacks.
“Ukraine continues to attack Russian civilian infrastructure, proving that Kiev does not actually want peace,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has charged.
Both Russian and Ukrainian leaders agreed in separate phone calls with Trump days ago to halt such assaults on energy infrastructure. But the Russian Defense Ministry has since said multiple waves of drones strikes have targeted oil and gas facilities.
Russian sources have identified that among the locations hit was the Kropotkinskaya oil pumping station in Russia’s Krasnodar Region. It was struck in the early hours of Monday.
“The station is operated by the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), which works with US energy giants such as Mobil and Chevron,” Russian media details. “Russian air defense systems intercepted a Ukrainian attack UAV some 7km from the facility, with fragments falling in the area of a railway station, according to the Defense Ministry.”
In its latest Tuesday update, the defense ministry said, “Against the backdrop of Russian-US expert-level talks on the topic of settling the conflict in Ukraine that took place in Riyadh on March 24, the Kiev regime continued to deliberately strike Russian peaceful energy infrastructure facilities using UAVs.”
The military issued a list of the latest sites impacted as follows:
- On March 24, the Kiev regime carried out a drone strike against Rosseti Kuban energy facilities in Krasnodar region, disrupting the “Rostov NPP – Tikhoretsk” power line.
- In the Lugansk People’s Republic, Ukrainian forces attacked the “Svatovo” gas distribution station with drones.
- In Crimea, air defenses intercepted a UAV targeting equipment at Glebovskoye underground gas storage facility.
The ministry said additionally, “Zelensky’s continued attacks on Russian energy infrastructure demonstrate his unreliability as a negotiating partner and lack of control over military operations.”
The day prior, two drones strikes were also reported on Valuika gas distribution station Belgorod Region in the early morning hours, which damaged equipment.
Both sides have been busy accusing the other of breaking the terms of the energy ‘partial ceasefire’. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has also said the West is giving Ukraine false hope, also through continued arms shipments and supplies.
“Without them [Western states], Ukraine would have been defeated long ago … But you see, both London and Paris are pumping Ukraine with weapons,” Lavrov said Tuesday.
ENERGY CEASEFIRE FAILED.
BLACK SEA CEASEFIRE? 🤔 https://t.co/tyZcXWKJFH
— Boris (@boris2top10) March 25, 2025
But Russia has been raining down missiles on Ukrainian cities as well. A particularly devastating missile attack on Monday damaged a school and a hospital in Ukraine’s northeastern city of Sumy,
The strike reportedly wounded at least 74 people, including 13 children, and multiple high-rise residential buildings were also damaged. Much of the population was seeking refuge in bomb shelters during the attack.
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More Tuesday geopolitical developments via Newsquawk…
- Ukraine delegation in Saudi Arabia will meet with the US team on Tuesday, according to a Ukrainian broadcaster Suspilne citing an unnamed source in the Ukrainian delegation.
- White House source says talks facilitated by the Trump administration’s technical teams in Riyadh are going extremely well, and we expect to have a positive announcement in the near future.
- Russia and US talks in Saudi Arabia were not simple but were useful, while their talks will continue with participation of international community including the UN, according to TASS.
- Ukraine and US teams are said to be holding further Russia-Ukraine talks in Riyadh, according to Bloomberg.
- Russia’s Kremlin says there are no plans for a Russian President Putin-US President Trump call yet but it can be organized; the content of the talks will not be disclosed in public.
- Israeli military says it struck targets at Syrian military bases.
- Houthi military spokesman says they targeted US naval vessels in the Red Sea and Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport, according to Al Jazeera and Sky News Arabia.
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