Russia and Ukraine attacked each other’s energy infrastructure overnight, just days before U.S. and Ukrainian officials were set to discuss steps toward ending the nearly three-year war sparked by Russia’s 2022 invasion.
Russian strikes damaged natural gas production facilities in Ukraine’s Poltava region overnight, using a combined attack of 19 cruise, ballistic and guided missiles, the Ukrainian air force said.
As a result of the attack, Ukraine imposed emergency power restrictions on Tuesday, according to Ukraine energy minister German Galushchenko.
"The enemy launched an attack on gas infrastructure overnight," Galushchenko said in a post on social media. "As of this morning, the energy sector continues to be under attack."
Russia, which previously focused its missile and drone attacks on the Ukrainian electricity sector, recently stepped-up attacks on gas storage and production facilities, Reuters reported.
The Ukrainian military said on Tuesday that it had struck an oil refinery in Russia's Saratov region overnight, causing a fire.
It said the refinery produces more than 20 types of petroleum products and is involved in supplying the Russian forces.
Saratov regional Governor Roman Busargin posted on the Telegram messaging app that a fire at an industrial facility in the region had been extinguished. He did not name the facility.
Russia's defense ministry said air defense units intercepted and destroyed 40 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory.
Eighteen of the drones were destroyed over the Saratov region, the ministry said in a post on the Telegram messaging app. The rest were downed over four other regions in Russia's south and west, it said.
The Russian military also said its forces had taken control of the settlement of Yasenove in eastern Ukraine.
Talks between US and Ukraine
As U.S. Vice President JD Vance prepares for a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky later this week, President Donald Trump suggested that Ukraine "may be Russian someday.”
Trump talked about the war in a Fox News interview that aired Monday.
"They may make a deal, they may not make a deal. They may be Russian someday, or they may not be Russian someday," he said.
Trump also discussed trading Ukraine’s natural resources, such as rare minerals, in exchange for U.S. military support.
"We are going to have all this money in there, and I say I want it back. And I told them that I want the equivalent, like $500 billion worth of rare earth," Trump said. "And they have essentially agreed to do that, so at least we don't feel stupid."
Trump’s senior advisers are expected to meet with Zelenskyy this week on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.
Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg are traveling to Germany for the summit.
“Knowing how the process works, it would probably be better for Zelenskyy if we all met together and talked through it as a group,” Kellogg said in an interview with the Associated Press.
Trump on Monday said he'd “probably” speak with Zelenskyy this week.
Information from the Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse was used in this report.
