Energy War Escalates: Russia and Ukraine Exchange Explosive Accusations Over Ceasefire Violations

On Wednesday, Russia and Ukraine both accused the other of launching attacks on each other’s power plants in violation of an agreement brokered by the United States.

Both sides claimed they would provide details of the alleged violation to the United States. This led to Moscow and Kyiv agreeing to a limited truce as a step toward a complete ceasefire last month.

The Russian defense ministry has said that Ukraine conducted drone and bombing attacks on the western Kursk area, which cut power to more than 1,500 households.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president, said that a Russian drone had hit an energy substation located in the Sumy Region and artillery shells had damaged a power line in Dnipropetrovsk. This cut off electricity for nearly 4,000 customers.

Both sides must move quickly to end the three-year conflict.

Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesperson, said that the fact that Vladimir Putin agreed to an energy truce showed that he is serious about engaging in the peace process. Kyiv as well as some of Ukraine’s European allies, disagree.

Peskov stated that Moscow will continue to work with the Americans, despite what Peskov called daily Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy infrastructure.

Zelenskyy stated on Tuesday that Russia is breaking the energy truce and called for the U.S.A. to increase sanctions against Moscow as Trump had threatened.

Last month, Ukraine stated that it was open to a 30-day full ceasefire. However, Putin refused to accept this. This raised a number of questions regarding how the ceasefire would be monitored. There were also concerns that Ukraine might use the breathing room to mobilise more troops and purchase more weapons from Western countries.