"Enough Is Enough": Zelenskyy Lifts Ban On Strikes Against Russian Oil Refineries

Ukraine refrained from striking the enemy's energy infrastructure for three days to comply with Washington's wishes.

Ukraine is resuming strikes on Russian oil refineries. The ban on such attacks was lifted amid problems with intelligence data and Starlink outages during the massive shelling.

This was stated in an interview with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy published by the Financial Times.

“The ban (on strikes against oil refineries) has been lifted. We’ve had enough,” Zelenskyy said.

According to him, Ukraine had refrained from striking Russian energy infrastructure for three days to comply with Washington’s wishes. Meanwhile, Russia continued to attack Ukrainian energy facilities and killed more than 100 civilians over the past week.

Despite the pause, the Ukrainian military was left without U.S. warnings about ballistic missile launches. Starlink began operating more slowly across the country, which complicated operations on the front lines and medium-range strikes against Russian military targets.

According to Zelenskyy, American counterparts directly warned the Ukrainian military: if strikes on energy infrastructure do not stop, intelligence sharing will be blocked. Subsequently, this was presented to Kyiv as a technical glitch.

“This was not a technical problem; it was a deliberate act,” the president said regarding the Starlink outages.

Conditions for a Pause—Patriot

Zelenskyy admits that Ukraine could refrain from striking Russia’s energy infrastructure, even if Russia continues its attacks. But only in exchange for additional Patriot missiles—and that, he said, is the bare minimum.

The Ukrainian president explained that, in response to a request to strengthen air defense, the U.S. scaled back Starlink operations.

According to the FT, the current crisis in relations between Kyiv and Washington is the most acute since February 2025, when Trump and his team publicly reprimanded Zelenskyy in the Oval Office.

The main cause of the tension was the strikes on Russian oil refineries. Trump attributes the global rise in diesel prices specifically to these strikes. At the same time, the U.S. Treasury Department opened the market to Russian diesel fuel, and Ukraine called this agreement unfair.

On the night of October 14, Starshield terminals on Ukrainian drones began maintaining communication only up to 160 km/h. On the same day, Russia launched a massive attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, and Zelenskyy called it an unprecedented display of disrespect by Moscow toward the United States.

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