Ukraine puts its strikes on Russian oil refineries 'on pause' after weeks of Trump pressure ahead of the US midterms
A fireball and black smoke rise from the Yanos refinery near Yaroslavl during a Ukrainian drone strike in September, as Kyiv has since suspended its refinery campaign after US envoy Jared Kushner pressed Volodymyr…
Ukraine's military quietly stood down its long-range drone units from hitting Russian oil refineries in mid-October after US envoy Jared Kushner told President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a tense Oslo meeting that a 30-day pause would show "gratitude" for American mediation efforts. The halt, which has not been publicly announced by Kyiv, is expected to hold until at least the 3 November US midterm elections and possibly deeper into November.
Zelenskyy told reporters his forces were being "a little more careful" but stressed they had received no formal order barring refinery strikes.
Russia killed at least 20 Ukrainians during the pause, including at least 14 people in a drone strike on a crowded railway station in Dnipro.
Zelenskyy asked for reciprocal Russian halts to energy attacks, extra Patriot missiles or Starlink access inside Russia in return — Washington agreed to none of them.
