Power plants and grids in Ukraine came under Russian attack hours after US President Donald Trump announced that Kyiv and Moscow had agreed an energy ceasefire effective immediately, leaving residents in several areas without electricity.

Trump stated on Sunday that the two countries had agreed to pause strikes on energy infrastructure targets, though he provided no further details. Russia offered no public response. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the reported deal as good news and said Ukraine was ready not to strike Russian energy facilities, counting on similar readiness from Russia and the agreement of the US president. He later said the announcement was news to him.

Despite the claim, Zelensky reported that Russia continued attacks on Sunday evening, including glide bomb strikes and an assault on a power plant in Kharkiv. Energy facilities in the Kharkiv area were hit, according to the Ukrainian president. Residents in the city of Izyum experienced blackouts after a Russian strike destroyed power grids, Ukraine’s state news agency Ukrinform reported. Energy and railway infrastructure in the western region of Zhytomyr was also targeted overnight, said Vitaliy Bunechko, head of the region’s military administration.

For months the two sides have exchanged strikes on energy infrastructure, disrupting supplies. Moscow has described the sites it targets as legitimate because they support Ukraine’s military effort. Zelensky has said Ukrainian attacks aim to reduce Russia’s ability to finance the war. Trump has pressed Ukraine to halt strikes on Russian oil infrastructure so that Moscow can fulfil a recent arrangement to release diesel to the United States and global markets. That arrangement, which would temporarily ease sanctions on Russian imports, forms part of efforts to lower US fuel prices ahead of midterm elections and has drawn criticism from Zelensky, European officials and some US politicians.

Britain, France, Canada and the European Union expressed support for the call for a sustained energy ceasefire. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the bloc would welcome such a pause when it holds, noting that Russia’s adherence had not yet been seen. Estonia’s foreign minister said the ceasefire was not working.

(bbc)