KYIV – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on March 27 Russian artillery had damaged Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in the front-line city of Kherson, two days after the US announced that each side had agreed to a truce on energy strikes.
“Two days ago, there was a night when there were no strikes on the energy sector, today energy infrastructure in the city of Kherson was damaged by Russian artillery,” Mr Zelensky said in Paris.
“I believe that the US should respond with actions.”
The US announced separate agreements with Kyiv and Moscow on March 25 to pause attacks in the Black Sea and against each other’s energy installations, the first such deal since US President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January.
“Our side, as long as no one understands who is monitoring what.. all this (evidence) will be prepared and transferred to the US, and after that, we are waiting for America’s reaction, since they told us that they will respond to violations,” Mr Zelensky said, after a summit of Ukraine’s allies in the French capital.
Kherson regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin said work was continuing to restore power to consumers who had been left without supply as a result of Russian shelling.
Moscow accused Kyiv on March 26 of using drones to attack energy facilities in Russia’s Kursk and Bryansk regions, and in Ukraine’s Russian-occupied peninsula of Crimea.
The Ukrainian military denied those accusations.
“The (Russian) military continues to produce fakes, seeking to make baseless accusations against Ukraine and prolong the war,” the military said, in a statement on the Telegram app.
Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and now holds about 20 per cent of the country, contends that it has observed an energy strike truce since March 18. Ukraine says Russia has attacked eight Ukrainian energy facilities since that date.
Mr Zelensky also said in Paris he believed the Trump administration’s stance towards Russia should be tougher, adding that Ukraine needed Washington’s help to be strong in negotiations. REUTERS
Join ST’s Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.