Kyiv, Ukraine — Russia launched a “massive” drone and missile attack on Ukrainian energy facilities Friday, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy renewed calls for a mutual halt to aerial attacks on critical infrastructure. The call from Zelenskyy to halt aerial bombardments on energy facilities builds on growing rhetoric from Kyiv, Washington and Moscow on halting the war just over three years after it was sparked by Russia’s full-scale invasion.
The Ukrainian leader said the first steps to establishing real peace should be stopping both Russian and Ukrainian aerial and naval attacks. It may have become harder for Ukraine to anticipate and thwart those attacks this week in the wake of President Trump’s decision to pause both intelligence sharing and the provision of military support after a contentious meeting with Zelenskyy a week ago.
“Ukraine is ready to go the way of peace, and it is Ukraine that wants peace from the very first second of this war. The task is to force Russia to stop the war,” he wrote in a post on social media.
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The Ukrainian air force said Russia had launched at least 58 missiles and nearly 200 drones, damaging energy facilities across the country from Kharkiv in the east to Ternopil in the west. Firefighters were battling a blaze on streets lined with debris in the Kharkiv region, images released by the emergency services showed.
The Kremlin responded to earlier calls by Zelenskyy for a halt to aerial attacks by ruling out any temporary ceasefire in Ukraine.
Zelenskyy’s allies abroad have voiced support for his truce proposal, which includes elements similar to a vague proposal put forth by France days ago. On Friday, Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who recently hosted the Ukrainian leader, also gave the idea his backing.
“We support the idea of establishing a ceasefire as soon as possible and stopping attacks in the air and at sea as a confidence-building measure between the parties,” Erdogan told an online meeting.
The Russian defense ministry said Friday that it had carried out “precision” strikes on energy infrastructure, claiming the facilities support the Ukrainian military.
Russia is “targeting facilities linked to Ukraine’s military-industrial complex,” Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
The Ukrainian air force said it had deployed French-mad Mirage fighter jets — delivered to Ukraine just last month — for the first time to repel the aerial onslaught. The jets, along with air defense units, shot down 34 of the missiles and 100 drones, the air force said.
DTEK, the largest private energy supplier in Ukraine, said its facilities in the Black Sea region of Odesa were targeted for a fourth night in a row. It said gas facilities in the central Poltava region had “ceased operations” after being struck in the overnight attack.
State gas company Naftogaz also said its production facilities were damaged, without giving details.
Authorities in at least five Ukrainian regions said Russia had targeted energy facilities.
The latest Russian air assault came after EU leaders, shaken by the prospect of U.S. disengagement, agreed to boost the European bloc’s defenses.
Washington, meanwhile, said talks with Kyiv were back on track to secure a ceasefire with Moscow after a public falling out between President Trump and Zelenskyy a week ago. U.S. and Ukrainian officials are expected to meet Tuesday in Saudi Arabia, a senior official in Kyiv told the AFP, with Zelenskyy voicing hope for a “meaningful meeting.”
Zelenskyy himself will travel to Saudi Arabia Monday for talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff said he would speak with Ukrainian negotiators about an “initial ceasefire” with Russia and a “framework” for a longer agreement.
Ukraine’s energy minister German Galushchenko said Russia was trying to “hurt ordinary Ukrainians by shelling energy and gas production facilities.”
Eight people were wounded in a strike on Friday on Kharkiv, including a woman pulled from the rubble alive, city officials said.
