Ukraine launches more than 1,000 drones at Russia
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(AP) -- Ukrainian strikes set an oil export terminal and a depot ablaze in St. Petersburg on Sunday as Kyiv launched more than 1,000 drones at Russia in one of its largest aerial attacks of the war.
The strikes came as tensions between Kyiv and Washington deepened, with U.S. President Donald Trump criticizing Kyiv’s attacks on Russian oil infrastructure and the prospect of further U.S. sanctions against Moscow still uncertain.
Trump said Sunday that he decided to hold off on implementing new sanctions on Russia because he doesn’t “want to do anything that will drive, foolishly, Russia away from the bargaining table.”
In a social media post, the U.S. president defended his Friday order to issue a waiver to prevent new sanctions from being placed on Moscow from bipartisan criticism that he was favoring Russian President Vladimir Putin’s interests over those of Ukraine. Trump said he believed new sanctions would undermine negotiations to bring about a diplomatic end to the war in Ukraine.
“I can sign it later, or any time that I want!” Trump added of the sanctions.
Trump also lashed out at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has been critical of Trump’s recent outreach to Putin, for launching strikes on Russian energy infrastructure during the conflict, claiming Zelenskyy “doesn’t want to end this war.”
Speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press” earlier on Sunday, Zelenskyy said waiving sanctions against Russia would strengthen Putin’s war effort. He also said U.S.-Ukraine intelligence sharing had resumed after being “blocked for some period of time.”
Zelenskyy said that while he trusted Trump, siding with Moscow would be a tragedy and a “historic mistake” for Washington.
“People want to forget what’s going on. But we can’t give this possibility to forget, or to change reality, or to change the truth,” Zelenskyy said. “We can’t compare me and Putin. He’s (an) aggressor. He occupied us. He killed adults and children, his soldiers. He’s a terrorist. And that’s why I hope that President Trump will be very clear with this position.”
Later Sunday, Zelenskyy said on social media that he had spoken with U.S. presidential envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner about the results of an Oct. 9 meeting between U.S. and Ukrainian negotiating teams in Miami, as well as “next steps in diplomacy.”
One person was killed and five others were wounded in the St. Petersburg attack, which sparked fires at the Petersburg Oil Terminal and the city’s Ruchi oil depot, local Gov. Alexander Beglov said. A logistics center belonging to Russian retailer Ozon and a data center operated by Russian tech giant VK were also targeted, the companies confirmed.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said Sunday that its forces had destroyed 1,015 Ukrainian drones over 15 Russian regions, the annexed Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea and the Black Sea.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Russian state news agency Tass that Kyiv was “resisting” Moscow’s invasion but could not “change the current course of events.”
Meanwhile, in Ukraine, a woman was killed and a 6-year-old girl was among at least two other people wounded in two Russian attacks on the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, local officials said Sunday.
Trump announced on Oct. 11 that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to an “energy ceasefire” in the 4½-year-old war, but offered no details. Kyiv reported Russian attacks on energy sites continued after Trump’s announcement, and on Thursday said it had resumed strikes on Russian oil facilities after a three-day pause.
Zelenskyy wrote on X on Sunday that Russia had attacked Ukraine’s energy, oil and gas sectors 76 times in the week since Trump’s announcement. The Ukrainian government initially said it was observing the ceasefire.
Energy facilities in four Ukrainian regions were struck overnight, leaving tens of thousands of families without power, Zelenskyy said, accusing Russia of trying to cause a blackout.