Russia Accuses Kyiv of Targeting Energy Sites Wednesday and Thursday

Russia on Thursday accused Ukraine of launching drones and artillery at energy sites in the border Bryansk region and in Moscow-annexed Crimea despite agreements to halt such strikes.

A senior Ukrainian official told AFP earlier Thursday that Kyiv and Moscow had not hit each other’s energy facilities since Tuesday, the day the White House announced agreements reached at talks with the two sides in Saudi Arabia.

Russia’s defence ministry said Kyiv had launched a drone at an electricity site in the Bryansk region on Wednesday and fired artillery at a power unit in the same region on Thursday.

It said Ukraine also fired a drone at a gas storage facility in Crimea on Wednesday.

“Despite the Kyiv regime’s statements about the alleged cessation of strikes on Russian energy facilities, over the past 24 hours the Ukrainian Armed Forces have continued to strike energy infrastructure,” the ministry said.

Washington had said Tuesday that both Kyiv and Moscow agreed separately to “develop measures for implementing” a halt on strikes on energy infrastructure.

The Ukrainian official told AFP that Moscow struck Ukraine’s energy facilities last week, after Russian President Vladimir Putin originally agreed to a 30-day halt on such strikes in a phone call with Donald Trump.

Trump is trying to end more than three years of fighting between the neighbours.

Moscow launched its full-scale Ukraine offensive in February 2022.

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