Ukraine Fires 1,000-Plus Drones Into Russia a Week After Trump Announced an Energy Ceasefire

A week after President Trump announced an "ENERGY CEASEFIRE" between Russia and Ukraine, Kyiv sent more than 1,000 drones into Russia in a single night and set two oil sites in St. Petersburg on fire. Russia's Defense Ministry said it brought down 1,015 Ukrainian drones overnight into Sunday, Oct. 18, over 15 Russian regions, occupied Crimea and the Black Sea, Al Jazeera reported from the ministry's tally. It was one of the biggest drone attacks of the war.

What got hit

St. Petersburg Gov. Alexander Beglov wrote on his channel on the Russian platform Max that one person was killed and five were hurt and in hospital. Fires burned at the Petersburg Oil Terminal, the Ruchi oil depot and industrial warehouses in the city's Kolpinsky district, and 12 apartment buildings and two houses were damaged, he said (RIA Novosti).

The oil terminal is an export hub on the Gulf of Finland, and Ukraine had already hit it once before, in July (BBC). Pulkovo Airport, one of Russia's busiest, restricted flights. Online retailer Ozon said its St. Petersburg logistics hub caught fire, and the tech company VK said drones attacked its data center in the surrounding Leningrad region. Leningrad Gov. Alexander Drozdenko said 145 drones were shot down over his region and about 20,000 people lost power (Al Jazeera).

The ceasefire Trump asked for

Trump didn't hide what he wanted. On Oct. 10 he told reporters Ukraine had been warned: "We said you could do whatever you want to Russia, don't hit the refineries, because that's a world problem that's caused." Zelensky, he said, "wants to make problems for our farmers, our ranchers, with diesel fuel ... So he better d*** well stop" (Kyiv Independent; Politico).

The next day he posted on Truth Social: "Effective immediately, there is an ENERGY CEASEFIRE in the War between Russia and Ukraine. Both parties have agreed. Do not break it!"

Zelensky's answer was conditional from the start. "Our offer is honest and clear – we are ready to respect an energy ceasefire if Russia is ready to do the same – we agree if they agree," he wrote on Oct. 12, saying Russian refineries "were not burning" that night while a Russian drone hit a Ukrainian gas facility. He also mocked the announcement: "It is clear that Putin does not read Truth Social."

Each side blames the other

On the morning of the St. Petersburg strike, Zelensky posted that Russia had attacked Ukraine's energy, oil and gas sectors "76 times" since Trump's announcement, with overnight strikes on substations in four regions. "America should see that Russia is not taking any reciprocal steps in response to sanctions relief or agreements," he wrote.

Trump answered the same day. In a long Truth Social post, he said he was holding off on new Russia sanctions because "I am in the process of negotiating Peace in the war between Russia and Ukraine, and don't want to do anything that will drive, foolishly, Russia away from the bargaining table."

Then he went straight at Kyiv's refinery campaign: "Zelenskyy is using Diesel Refineries in Russia as a target, knowing that these attacks are seriously hurting the world diesel markets, including those in the United States. Farmers, ranchers, and businesses of all kinds are suffering greatly from this." He closed: "I WANT THIS WAR END!"

Why this matters to Americans

Here's the math Trump is working. Diesel runs tractors, trucks and freight trains. When refineries burn anywhere, the world has less diesel to sell, and Americans pay for it at the pump and the grocery store. That's why the White House treats Ukraine's refinery war as an American kitchen-table problem, not just a Russian one. Russia's own strikes on Ukrainian power plants are real too, and Trump's ceasefire was meant to stop both.

Zelensky argues the opposite: that Russian oil money funds the war, so refineries are fair targets, and that the U.S. is easing pressure on the wrong side. His argument has a hole. He says he'll honor a ceasefire if Russia does, then launches one of the largest drone raids of the war a week into it. Whoever fired first, Trump's message is the same to both capitals: stop hitting energy, and talk.

For the full story on the sanctions Trump paused and the diesel deal behind it, read our report: Trump Put New Russia Sanctions on Hold and Got Tough on Zelensky.