Ukraine resumes drone strikes on Russian refineries despite US pressure

Ukrainian long-range drones set fire to the Kstovo refinery in Nizhny Novgorod oblast overnight into Sunday, Russian state media said on 1 November. The strike came soon after a major attack on another large refinery in Samara oblast owned by Rosneft, Russian state media said. Kremlin officials said Ukrainian raids on Russia restarted on Friday and complained that Kyiv was now "simply ignoring" US wishes.

The Wall Street Journal had reported that Ukraine gave in to White House pressure to stop bombing Russian energy infrastructure. Ukrainian officials told the Kyiv Independent they never agreed to a demand from Jared Kushner, the US president's son-in-law, to pause refinery strikes for 30 days. Zelenskyy said Ukraine halted attacks on Russian oil refineries for three days after Trump unilaterally declared an energy truce on 11 October, while Russia continued striking Ukrainian energy infrastructure during the "truce."

Trump has blamed Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the rise in global fuel prices, and last month lifted US sanctions on Russian diesel, the Guardian reported. The Kyiv Independent reported that Trump falsely blamed Ukrainian attacks, rather than his war against Iran, for high global fuel prices.

Zelenskyy has not acknowledged the refinery attacks. He said Ukrainian forces hit a defence industry enterprise in Russia's Rostov region that made missiles, and that a Pantsir missile system was destroyed.

US gas plan and EU LNG imports

US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff proposed restoring Russian natural gas sales to Europe through pipelines running across Ukraine, the Wall Street Journal reported. A US intermediary would sell the gas to avoid EU sanctions, and Kyiv would collect transit fees on old pipelines. Officials suggested the proceeds go into an escrow account so the Kremlin could not use them to fund its war.

The Independent reported that US officials put the plan on the back burner after Kyiv stopped striking Russian refineries under pressure from Trump, and that Kyiv resumed strikes after Moscow refused to stop attacking Ukrainian energy infrastructure. Ukrainian officials had denied agreeing to Kushner's 30-day demand. White House negotiators believe the possibility of Russian gas returning to the European market would give Vladimir Putin an incentive to halt attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure, The Independent reported.

The EU has legislated to end all purchases of Russia's natural gas by the end of 2027. It still brought in a record 12.18 million tonnes of Russian Arctic LNG in the first nine months of 2026, according to an analysis of Kpler data by Urgewald cited by The Independent. The Independent attributed the record to delays in the LNG ban: short-term contracts signed before 17 June 2025 were banned as of April this year, and new Russian import contracts were banned as of 18 March 2026, leaving a nine-month gap for short-term contracts concluded between those dates. Long-term bans on Russian LNG will not be imposed until 2027.

The bloc paid an estimated €1.92 billion for LNG from Russia's Yamal project in the third quarter of 2026 alone, with the estimated total bill from the first nine months as high as €7.88 billion, The Independent reported.

How the pause fell apart

Although Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces had not been ordered to refrain from attacking Russian refineries, the pace of the strikes slowed sharply in recent weeks, the Kyiv Independent reported. The most recent attacks before the resumption occurred at the Ryazan refinery on 15 October and in St Petersburg on 18 October.

Russian regions began lifting restrictions on gasoline sales as the pace of attacks slowed. Free fuel sales resumed in 15 regions in October, including occupied Crimea and Sevastopol, where conditions were the most dire, Izvestia reported. Restrictions remain in Tambov Oblast, where authorities limit how much fuel one person can buy and ban filling jerry cans. Some districts of Leningrad Oblast still have supply difficulties.

What Ukraine is asking for

On 1 November Zelenskyy said Ukraine would stop hitting Russian oil refineries, as Trump had demanded, if Washington provided Kyiv with Patriot interceptor missiles. In an interview with Fox News, Zelenskyy said: "We said that if you want us not to attack Russia's refineries, they have to not attack our energy system. Another alternative, give us Patriot missiles, we will find money, not just aid."

Russia continued attacking Ukrainian energy facilities. Four Ukrainian regions were hit by Russia overnight, with electricity cut as a result in hundreds of thousands of households, Zelenskyy said. Kyiv experienced power cuts lasting eight to 10 hours on Sunday after a critical thermal power plant was damaged. Ukraine's Air Force said Moscow attacked with 433 drones overnight and that 371 were destroyed or suppressed.

Zelenskyy said Russia suffered 54,400 military personnel killed and wounded in October. That was the highest monthly figure since the full-scale war began. He said Ukraine recaptured 96.2 sq km last month, 10.4 sq km more than Moscow managed to seize.

Talks in Abu Dhabi

US special envoy Steve Witkoff posted on X that the US will mediate talks between Russia and Ukraine on 10 and 11 November in Abu Dhabi, focusing on post-war security arrangements, de-escalation and humanitarian efforts. Washington had hoped to announce an energy ceasefire ahead of three-way peace negotiations scheduled for mid-November in Abu Dhabi, The Independent reported.

The Kyiv International Institute of Sociology released a poll on 28 October. It found most Ukrainians want Kyiv to keep striking Russian refineries even if the US threatens to cut support.