The renewed strikes came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ended a three day pause on refinery attacks that Washington had requested under an energy truce announced by US President Donald Trump on October 11. "The block on attacking refineries is out. We're done," Zelenskyy told the Financial Times, citing continued Russian missile and drone barrages that damaged 30 Ukrainian energy sites, disabled Kyiv's three main combined heat and power plants, and left 600,000 people without electricity while the US withheld early ballistic missile warnings and restricted Starlink satellite service.
Trump condemned the resumed refinery attacks in a Newsmax interview, calling them a "disgrace" that drives up global oil and diesel prices and saying Ukraine should choose other targets. Even so, the Wall Street Journal reported that Zelenskyy is open to a proposal from Republican Senators Roger Wicker and Kevin Cramer to halt strikes on Russian refineries for 100 days in exchange for full Starlink restoration, including coverage up to 300 kilometers inside Russia to hunt missile launchers, and US intelligence data on Russian launch sites.