Zelenskyy ended a three day pause on refinery strikes on Oct. 15, saying "the block is out" after Russian missile and drone barrages knocked out Kyiv's three main combined heat and power plants and cut electricity to at least 600,000 people without early ballistic missile warnings from allies. Ukrainian drones subsequently hit Rosneft's 340,000 BPD Ryazan refinery southeast of Moscow, halting its CDU-6 primary crude distillation unit and damaging pipelines while three other crude units continued operating.
US President Donald Trump condemned Ukraine's renewed refinery attacks as a "disgrace" that drives up global oil prices and told Newsmax that Zelenskyy is "not a good guy for us to deal with" and that a war settlement would not happen with him. Zelenskyy said Kyiv would only halt refinery strikes again if allies supply Patriot air defense interceptors, and expressed openness to a proposal from Republican Senators Roger Wicker and Kevin Cramer for a 100 day pause in exchange for full Starlink access and data on Russian missile launch sites.