By Daniel Flynn and Max Hunder
KYIV, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Ukraine struck a Russian oil refinery on Thursday, after President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Kyiv was "done" supporting a ceasefire on energy targets announced by US President Donald Trump and ignored by Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin played down the effect of Ukrainian long-range attacks on Russian refineries, saying they had caused "nothing particularly significant."
Since Trump's surprise announcement on Sunday that Russia and Ukraine
had agreed to halt attacks on energy, Kyiv had suspended attacks on Russian refineries, which Trump blames for raising diesel prices on global markets.
But in the days that followed, Russia rained down missile and drone strikes, including on energy targets such as power stations, knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of people.
In an interview with the Financial Times published on Thursday, Zelenskiy said Ukraine's patience had run out.
"The block (on attacking refineries) is out. We're done," he told the newspaper.
Zelenskiy also criticised what he saw as Trump's willingness to strike deals with Russia, apparent admiration for Putin and an affinity for those wielding power or considerable wealth.
"He (Trump) speaks about it openly and loudly that he loves such people and he respects such people," the FT quoted him as saying. "Because for him people who can be leaders 20 years, 30 years, 40 years, it means they can be very strong."
Zelenskiy, who was due to attend a European Union summit on Friday, also made clear he believed that changes in the capability of the military version of SpaceX's Starlink receptors this week, which have curbed Ukraine's ability to use them to pilot its drones, were a policy decision.
"It was not a technical problem, it was the will," he told the FT.
In a social media post overnight, SpaceX boss Elon Musk said usage of the military version of Starlink, known as Starshield, was ultimately up to Trump as president of the United States.
"Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government. Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS," Musk wrote.
BIGGEST RIFT WITH WASHINGTON OF THE WAR
By effectively walking away from Trump's demand that Ukraine halt attacks on refineries, Zelenskiy risks deepening the biggest rift between Kyiv and Washington since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Although Trump has described the ceasefire as a requirement for both Moscow and Kyiv, his public comments have focused mainly on Ukraine's attacks on Russian refineries, which he said over the weekend had "damn well better stop".
Trump has long had a testy relationship with Zelenskiy and berated him in the White House in February 2025. But his sharp turn against Kyiv in recent days has little precedent. He first angered Ukraine last week by abruptly lifting sanctions on Russian diesel, and then called for Zelenskiy to be replaced.
Ukrainians worry that the rift could have severe consequences on the battlefield, where the Ukrainian military still depends on technology provided by Washington.
For several days, Ukrainian officials say they have not received the usual warnings from Western allies about incoming Russian missiles, which rely on US satellite detectors.
Trump has denied withholding intelligence.
At the same time, military-grade Starlink receptors have stopped working in Ukraine when mounted on fast-moving objects, interfering with the performance of Ukrainian drones that rely on them for onboard guidance systems over Ukrainian territory.
A source in Ukraine's defence ministry said on Thursday that the receptors were now working when in motion, but only at speeds of up to 100 miles per hour (160 kph). Ukrainian officials say that is too slow for mid-range attack missions and interceptor drones that defend against Russian drones.
Defence experts and a Reuters analysis of satellite imagery, meanwhile, showed that Russia had in just six weeks nearly finished building a major base in southern Russia for launching jet-powered drones.
REFINERY SUPPLYING MOSCOW HIT
Ukraine has been using its long-range drones to target Russian refineries and logistics in recent months, which it says is its only answer to nearly five years of relentless Russian bombardment. The attacks have caused fuel shortages in Russia.
Trump is under pressure, with his Republicans facing midterm elections in less than three weeks, to lower fuel prices. Prices for diesel have reached record highs since he launched a war against Iran in February, though Trump says the Ukrainian attacks are driving up global prices.
Ukraine's latest target was a refinery in the Ryazan region southeast of Moscow, which is owned by state oil major Rosneft and accounts for nearly 5% of Russia's refinery throughput, helping supply the capital.
Regional governor Pavel Malkov said on Telegram that a major Ukrainian drone attack had caused a fire at the refinery.
A Ukrainian official confirmed that Ukraine had hit a Russian refinery in response to Moscow's ballistic missile and drone attacks this week that violated the energy truce.
In the Black Sea, rescuers searched for seven missing sailors after drones struck two chemical tankers near Romania's Black Sea coast, setting them ablaze in the latest attack on shipping along a vital route used by Ukraine.
Romanian President Nicusor Dan said the two ships had been struck by drones but declined to say whether Russia was responsible. A NATO source said the drones came from Russia.
The Kremlin said on Thursday that Ukraine's targeting of Russian energy infrastructure ran counter to US peace efforts. It said earlier this week that the scope of the energy ceasefire had never been determined and work was ongoing to do so.
BREAKDOWN IN RELATIONS
Ukraine's rift with Washington has raised concern in Kyiv and European capitals about the heavy reliance in Ukraine on US intelligence and technology. Under Trump, Washington has already halted weapons supplies to Ukraine while allowing its European allies to continue buying US arms on Kyiv's behalf.
But Europe has no ready-made alternatives to Starlink, or to US satellite systems used to detect Russian missile launches.
Zelenskiy has said that Ukrainian military officials had been warned by US counterparts that Washington would block intelligence unless they halted strikes on Russian energy infrastructure.
Asked whether Ukraine would be open to halting energy strikes as a way of repairing relations with the White House, Zelenskiy told the FT he could agree only if in return he were given more US-made Patriot interceptors as a "minimum".
(Reporting by Daniel Flynn, Max Hunder, Dan Peleschuk, and Lina GolovnyaEditing by Tom Hogue, Edwina Gibbs, Jason Neely, Peter Graff and Nick Zieminski)
