KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared Sunday that Moscow bears sole responsibility for the ongoing war, offering to halt attacks on Russian oil refineries if Russia ceases its strikes on Ukraine’s energy grid. This diplomatic positioning came shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump suggested Zelenskyy should be replaced and blamed him for rising diesel costs in America.
Zelenskyy stated via X that de-escalation on energy infrastructure could occur immediately, provided it was reciprocal and guaranteed. “It is possible to stop strikes on energy infrastructure as early as today, but Putin does not want to do so,” he wrote.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha defended the president against Trump’s remarks, asserting that Zelenskyy retains the support of the Ukrainian people. “He has the support of the Ukrainian people, and they have the right to decide. Statements from abroad only confirm that he is doing his job well,” Sybiha said.
The comment from Trump followed an agreement he announced on Friday to purchase diesel fuel from Russia, a move intended to lower domestic fuel prices ahead of midterm elections. Ukrainian and European officials criticized the deal, warning it would provide financial resources to Moscow’s war effort. Trump had previously attributed record U.S. diesel prices to Ukraine rather than the broader conflict involving Iran.
Meanwhile, Kyiv intensified its long-range aerial campaign, with drones striking a data center operated by Yandex in the city of Vladimir on Sunday. The facility, located east of Moscow, was forced offline, disrupting services including ride-hailing and banking for users across dozens of Russian cities and neighboring nations such as Kazakhstan, Belarus, and Armenia.
This marked the third attack on Yandex’s infrastructure within four days. A drone strike on Thursday disabled a data center in the Ryazan region, and another on Friday partially took offline a major facility in the Kaluga region. Yandex Cloud confirmed on Telegram that operations at the Vladimir site were completely halted and that no injuries were reported.
The Russian tech giant, often compared to Google, operates the country’s leading search engine and plays a significant role in Russia’s artificial intelligence sector. These strikes mirror recent Russian attacks on Ukrainian data hubs.
On the ground, the human toll of the conflict continued. Search and rescue efforts concluded in Zaporizhzhia after a Russian bombing on Saturday killed 23 people, including four children, and wounded more than 30 others. In response, a Ukrainian drone strike in Russia’s Bryansk border region killed one man and wounded two women, according to local officials.
More than four and a half years after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion, armies remain largely deadlocked on the front line while both sides continue an extended aerial war against infrastructure deep within each other’s territories.
Striking Yandex disrupts banking and services across multiple countries. Is this proportionality or just chaos?
Interesting how Trump is blaming Ukraine for US fuel prices while buying Russian diesel. The logic is hard to follow.