Trump claims energy ceasefire as Ukraine reports strikes
Donald Trump claimed on Sunday that Russia and Ukraine had reached an “energy ceasefire” in their 4½-year war, but Ukrainian officials reported continued attacks on energy sites within hours of his announcement. He posted the comment on his personal social-media page early Sunday morning, urging all parties not to break the tentative pact.
The ceasefire was announced in a brief social-media post by the former president, who added, “Do not break it!” The statement offered no details on how the agreement was reached or what terms it included. Moscow did not immediately respond, and no official Russian channel confirmed any discussion of a pause in hostilities.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the news as “good for everyone” but said Russian strikes on energy infrastructure persisted. In an evening address, he said, “Unfortunately, Ukrainian skies have been infested with Russian shaheds all day today,” referring to shaheds (Iranian-made drones). “There have been glide bomb strikes and strikes on our energy infrastructure too. A power plant in Kharkiv was attacked this evening.” The presidential office later verified the strike.
Zelenskyy reiterated Ukraine’s willingness to halt strikes on Russian energy facilities if Moscow reciprocated. He said Ukraine was “ready to refrain from striking Russian energy infrastructure — and we count on the same readiness from Russia.”
Russia’s repeated targeting of Ukrainian energy sites has left millions without power, heat, or running water, a strategy Kyiv calls “weaponising winter.” The president noted that Ukraine had proposed multiple de-escalation steps, but Russian President Vladimir Putin had rejected them all with a single word: “nyet.”
Trump previously suggested Ukraine needed a new leader, blaming the incumbent for high U.S. diesel prices. Zelenskyy responded that Ukraine could hold elections if Russia agreed to a 60-day ceasefire, but the Ukrainian Constitution bars elections while martial law remains in force, and the war-torn country lacks the logistical capacity to conduct a nationwide vote.
Ukraine’s military campaign has also targeted Russian infrastructure. On Sunday, a drone strike disabled a Yandex data centre in Vladimir, causing outages across the company’s services in Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, and Armenia. The attack was the third on Yandex facilities in four days, disrupting taxi services, banking, and e-commerce platforms that rely on the firm’s cloud infrastructure.
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Pavel Belyavskiy, a driver for Yandex Taxi, said it was unclear whether orders were coming through at all, and that he had to cancel several rides after waiting a long time because he could not reach the passenger.
Meanwhile, a Russian bombing in Zaporizhzhia killed 23 people, including four children, according to the president’s office. Search and rescue operations in the city concluded Sunday after the attack, with more than 30 wounded and eight still hospitalized.
Trump’s push for an energy ceasefire follows a controversial deal struck Friday with Putin to import Russian diesel, a move officials said could help fund Moscow’s war effort. Ukrainian and European officials condemned the agreement, arguing it undermines sanctions against Russia.
Ukrainian Drone Strikes Affect Yandex Facility and Bryansk Border Region
Ukrainian drones struck Yandex’s major data centre in the Kaluga region, southwest of Moscow, disabling part of the site, the company said. Yandex, often described as Russia’s Google, operates the nation’s most popular search engine and a broad suite of digital services, and it is heavily involved in artificial-intelligence development.
Ivan Fedorov, former regional head and co-chair of the Zaporizhzhia defence council, confirmed that search and rescue operations in the southern city concluded on Sunday after the Russian bombing.
Local officials reported that a Ukrainian drone attack on Russia’s Bryansk border region killed a man and wounded two women on Sunday.
