Ukraine seems to resume refinery strikes with a hit on Russia’s Ryazan plant

Ukraine appears to have ended a brief pause on strikes against Russian oil refineries on Thursday, October 15, hitting a Rosneft plant in the Ryazan region days after Donald Trump announced an “energy ceasefire” that neither Moscow nor Kyiv said it had agreed to, according to the BBC, Reuters, the AP, The Guardian and Meduza. The Guardian describes the White House’s energy-truce effort as having collapsed; the Kremlin, the BBC notes, never said it had agreed to the deal.

The first account on hand came from the Russian side. Meduza, in an item stamped 07:37 UTC (12:37 AM PT), relayed Governor Pavel Malkov’s post that Ukrainian drones had struck the region’s refinery and sparked a fire, and that a warehouse and vehicles took damage at another facility. Malkov reported no casualties, Meduza says. Authorities canceled classes and kindergarten attendance in Ryazan’s Oktyabrsky district and part of the Sovetsky district, Meduza reports, with Malkov’s post listing 14 schools and 25 kindergartens affected. Reuters, carried by CBC, quotes Malkov: “The material damage is now being assessed. Emergency services are working at the scene.”

How many weapons flew remains in dispute. Russia’s Defense Ministry says it intercepted four missiles and dozens of drones and that falling debris caused the fire, the BBC reports, while the Kremlin said Kyiv had “attempted a large-scale attack” on a refinery south of Moscow. Regional officials said 69 drones and four Flamingo cruise missiles targeted the plant, The Guardian reports, and Moscow claimed debris from a drone hit by anti-aircraft fire set the blaze, The Guardian says. Russia’s Defense Ministry also said its air defences downed 166 Ukrainian drones overnight, the AP reports. This desk could not verify any of these counts.

Reuters says the Ryazan plant feeds Moscow with fuel, accounts for almost five per cent of Russia’s total oil refining throughput and has come under drone attack several times in recent months. The AP says Russia’s Astra online news outlet posted what it said showed the blaze, and a senior Ukrainian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that Ukraine had hit the refinery.

Zelensky announced the restart in an interview with the Financial Times, which Reuters and the AP describe as published on Thursday; The Guardian dates his remarks to Wednesday. Zelensky said he had restricted attacks for three days while Russia kept striking Ukrainian energy infrastructure, the BBC reports. Reuters and The Guardian quote him: “The block [on attacking refineries] is out. We’re done.” He told the FT he would halt refinery strikes again only if the United States supplied more Patriot air-defence missiles, the BBC says; Reuters says he called that the “minimum” he could accept.

Zelensky also spoke about US pressure. US counterparts told Ukrainian officials “if you will not stop [the strikes], we will block intelligence,” he told the FT, as quoted by the BBC, and he called sudden limits on Starlink and its military sister service Starshield deliberate: “It was not a technical problem, it was the will.” Trump has denied halting intelligence-sharing, the BBC and the AP report. Elon Musk wrote on X that the US government owns and controls Starshield and decides any speed limits, Reuters says. Ukrainian defence sources told the BBC that some Starlink functions, including Starshield’s “operation while on the move,” had returned by Thursday morning.

Zelensky also spoke about Trump in a Piers Morgan interview. The AP places that interview late Wednesday and the BBC on Wednesday night; The Guardian says Thursday. Asked whether he felt betrayed by Trump, Zelensky said “Really, yes, between us,” and added, “Our country has to survive, and we count on our real partners, strategic partners, the United States and President Trump,” the AP reports. The Guardian quotes him from the same exchange: “It’s a pity that we are losing, we are losing a strong partner.” Reuters says Trump on Saturday called for Ukraine to replace Zelensky, a day after announcing a diesel supply deal with Russia; the BBC says that deal releases 300,000 tonnes of diesel to the US and global marketplace.

Russian leaders played down the damage. Putin said Ukraine’s recent refinery strikes had caused nothing of significance and vowed that Moscow would respond, Interfax reported, according to Reuters, which quotes him: “They hit here and there. Nothing particularly significant. Nevertheless they are carrying on.” Putin also said Kyiv had tried to hit refineries on Wednesday, which Ukraine denies, the BBC reports. Peskov said Ukraine never stopped its refinery strikes, and Lavrov labeled them a “direct and crude challenge to President Trump,” the AP says.

Russia’s overnight barrage on Ukraine draws different numbers too. Ukraine’s air force said 580 Russian drones attacked and 536 got shot down, Reuters reports; the AP says the air force recorded impacts at 31 locations. Zelensky wrote on X that Russia launched more than 850 drones between midnight and Thursday morning, the AP reports, while the BBC ties his 850-drone figure to Wednesday’s attacks, which local officials say killed at least 13 people across Ukraine. In the central Kirovohrad region, three people died and six suffered injuries, Governor Andriy Raikovych and Ukraine’s emergency services say, per Reuters and the AP. Reuters and The Guardian say more than 360 drones hit the region; the BBC says nearly 360 over a 10-hour barrage. Naftogaz said a strike halted operations at a gas-extraction site in the Poltava region, Reuters reports.

Zelensky’s X post reaches English readers in two versions. The AP and The Guardian quote: “It is obvious that Russia deliberately chose to escalate its attacks after receiving sanctions relief and seeing attempts to pressure Ukraine.” The BBC renders it: “It is clear that Russia deliberately escalated these attacks, taking advantage of the easing of sanctions and seeing attempts to pressure Ukraine.”

Ukraine also claims a hit on Russian air power. Ukraine’s military said an overnight strike damaged six Su-34M aircraft at the Borisoglebsk airfield in Russia’s Voronezh region, Reuters reports, adding that it could not independently verify the battlefield reports. The Guardian cites Zelensky as saying four Su-34s took hits and two more suffered damage, and says Ukraine’s military reported using a Neptune cruise missile; the AP reports Zelensky as saying a Ukrainian missile destroyed six warplanes.

European leaders have rallied around Zelensky, the BBC says, as a two-day summit of European leaders opened in Brussels. Italy’s defence minister, Guido Crosetto, told the BBC that US limits on intelligence-sharing would amount to a “complete mistake.” NATO chief Mark Rutte said he and Zelensky discussed “the importance of implementing an energy ceasefire as well as Nato allies' continuous support for Ukraine,” the BBC reports. The EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, told reporters: “Squeezing Ukraine is not the right approach, and that is why Europe is standing beside Ukraine,” the AP reports.

At sea, rescuers searched for at least seven missing sailors after drones set two chemical tankers ablaze near Romania, The Guardian and Reuters report. The two outlets place the ships differently: The Guardian says inside Romanian territorial waters at the mouth of the Danube, Reuters says just outside them. Romanian President Nicușor Dan said two Russian drones violated Romanian airspace and struck the tankers, The Guardian reports. Moscow said it hit two cargo ships carrying military cargo bound for Ukraine’s Odesa port, without naming them, the BBC says.

Reading note: this desk wrote from published reports, not from Ryazan, Kyiv or Brussels. Russian officials, Ukrainian officials and the outlets above give different weapon counts, aircraft tallies and dates for the same events; each figure here carries the name of whoever gave it, and later updates may revise any of them.