Firefighters battle a blaze in a building struck by a Russian attack on Kyiv, Ukraine, October 14, 2026

Tuesday’s Coverage: Russia — After Trump Deal, We Can Return Diesel Exports to Pre-Invasion Level

UPDATE 2009 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has commented on a “good meeting” with UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham in London.

Zelensky said he briefed Burnham about “Russian attacks against our cities, our people, and critical infrastructure”. He noted, amid reports that Elon Musk has suspended access to Starlink, “The Russians are trying to take advantage of the problems…as our interceptor drones depend on this connection among other things.”

The President hailed the UK’s decision to accelerate deliveries of British-made air defense systems to Ukraine to counter jet-powered drones.

UPDATE 2005 GMT:

Six civilians have been murdered and 13 injured by a Russian drone attack on Lutsk in western Ukraine.

The strike damaged a residential building and a store.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky commented:

Russia is once again showing what it really wants. This is a deliberate continuation of the war, in defiance of calls from the United States and the American President. That is why Moscow must not be talked into stopping – it must be forced to stop through increased pressure, sanctions, and assistance to Ukraine that enables us to protect people from these attacks.

UPDATE 1215 GMT:

Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Rumen Radev has told Parliament that Russia was most likely behind drone attacks in the Black Sea that sank two ships, but “The problem is that we cannot prove it.”

The Russian Ambassador to Sofia was summoned on Tuesday over the issue.

Bulgaria hopes to join a NATO anti-drone initiative by the end of October. Defense Minister Dimitar ⁠Stoyanov said, “Bulgaria will be part of this ⁠project as soon as possible. Expectations are that by 30 October, we will already ​be part of the project.”

Bulgarian authorities are investigating a report that several antennas used for communication with the Starlink satellite network were deliberately set on fire.

Prime Minister Radev told Parliament, “The investigation is extremely intensive. We are working with partner services to successfully carry out this operation.”

A fire broke out at a Starlink satellite communications station in central Poland in September. The Polish Digital Affairs Minister cited an act of “sabotage” and Prime Minister Donald Tusk called it an “act of hybrid warfare”.

UPDATE 1108 GMT:

A Ukrainian intelligence official summarizes the Trump camp’s recent support of Russia:

If Trump had been running United States back in 1939, I think he would have been Hitler’s ally.

And on the site of the Warsaw Ghetto, Witkoff and Kushner would have built a posh hotel complex.

UPDATE 1037 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has posted about Russia’s latest attacks with 39 ballistic missiles and more than 120 attack drones and loitering munitions.

Zelensky cited “significant damage” to 26 power facilities and four in the oil and gas sector. At least 600,000 people are without power, and outages could spread.

The President noted that the Russians had targeted energy and critical infrastructure in Kyiv, the Kyiv region, and Kharkiv, defying Donald Trump’s declaration of an “energy ceasefire”.

The strike was entirely deliberate and demonstrative in its scale – Russia has never before shown such ostentatious disrespect toward the United States. Russia does not consider the American President’s statements strong.

Zelensky asked Trump to impose “strong sanctions” on Russia, fulfilling the bill passed by the US Congress last month, and to provide Patriot missile interceptors to Kyiv.

UPDATE 0954 GMT:

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has criticized Donald Trump’s purchase of diesel fuel from Russia as “a very risky choice”.

The outcome ​of this decision is ‌uncertain, while the ‌risks are clear. It provides Moscow with legitimacy as its bombs continue to fall on Ukrainian cities, generates new revenue to finance the war, and implicitly weakens the effectiveness of sanctions.

She called for an alternative to Trump’s envoys with the European Union appointing “an authoritative figure” to lead talks with Russia and Ukraine.

UPDATE 0724 GMT:

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has restricted the operation of Starlink satellite communications terminals used by the Ukrainian military on the frontlines, Ukrainian officials claims.

Military sources said the restrictions affected the defense version of the Starlink satellite communications system, Starshield, a fast version of the service which is essential for drone operators. A commander sent a video showing two Ukrainian drones losing contact as they took to the skies, preventing them from continuing their mission.

“Our defense forces received no warning of such restrictions, and this led to the disruption of a number of missions. Clearly, this action cannot be a coincidence and is related to the current political situation,” wrote Serhiy Beskrestnov, an advisor to President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Poland Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski called out Musk on social media: “Hey, @elonmusk, big man, are you playing politics with your products again? As your European customers, we are watching you.”

UPDATE 0621 GMT:

Ukrainian drones reportedly struck a metallurgical plant and a data center in Russia’s Saratov region overnight.

Governor Roman Busargin reported the attack. He maintained that all infrastructure in the city of Balakovo was “operating normally” while claimed that several residential buildings were damaged and one person killed.

Eyewitness footage indicated one of the damaged buildings was several kilometers from the Balakovo Thermal Power Plant, the city’s main source of heat.

The Ukrainian monitoring channel Exilenova+ said the struck data center belonged to the major Russian bank Sberbank. The center and the Balakovo metallurgical plant are both in the city’s industrial zone where several fires were reported.

The Sberbank center is still under construction but is partially operational. It is expected to become one of the largest data centers in Russia, serving as the base for the state digital platform GosTekh.

UPDATE 0606 GMT:

Ukraine has advanced its bid for membership in the European Union, opening talks on internal market and competitiveness standards.

Four of six clusters have now been unlocked.

The breakthrough came after Hungary dropped its objections, following Ukrainian passage of legislation protecting the rights of the Hungarian-speaking minority in western Ukraine.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: At least three civilians have been murdered and 22 injured in Russia’s latest large-scale ballistic missile attack on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv.

The Russians struck a residential neighborhood and targeted several energy facilities overnight.

At least two people were killed and 21 injured by a Russian missile strike on a 9-story residential building in the Desnyanskyi district, igniting a widespread fire, late Tuesday. Four of the wounded are in serious condition.

More than a dozen explosions were heard between 4:45 and 6:45 a.m., with brief power outages. Another person was slain in the Holosiivskyi district.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky posted after the late-night attacks that no warning had been given by partners of the impending strikes for the second day in a row: “Our system detected these missiles almost as they were approaching Kyiv.”

Zelensky said the CHPP-4 thermal power plant and residential building were hit.

This is absolutely unjust: when they are destroying our energy infrastructure, and Ukraine is not even receiving early warnings about ballistic missile launches. It is important that the world does not stay silent about this. And it is important that the United States really see what is happening and who is responsible for this war continuing.

Presidential advisor Dmytro Lytvyn and Ukraine’s Air Force also said no alerts were received on either day.

Donald Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner reportedly warned Ukrainian officials in Miami last Friday that intelligence sharing could be halted if Ukraine did not stop its strikes on Russian oil refineries.

Trump denied the cutoff on Tuesday, “We are helping them, and we are sharing intel. We want the war to end, so we’re working with them and Russia on getting the war to end.”

In his nightly address to the nation, Zelensky said he proposed new talks with Witkoff and Kushner. He reiterated that he supported an energy ceasefire as long as Russia observes it. “Our team has sent the American side the ⁠relevant proposals regarding possible next meetings and ​conversations,” he said.