Kyiv [Ukraine], October 18 (ANI): Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated that Moscow has launched dozens of strikes targeting the nation’s critical infrastructure over the past week, despite a diplomatic announcement regarding a temporary halt.
“Since the American President announced the energy ceasefire a week ago, Russia has deliberately attacked Ukraine’s energy and oil and gas sectors 76 times,” he wrote on X, noting that recent bombardments impacted electrical installations across the Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi and Odesa regions.
Concurrently, Zelenskyy remarked that the recent policy shift by Washington to waive sanctions would only encourage further aggression from the Kremlin. The Ukrainian leader warned that additional US sanctions relief could follow.
“The decision to undo all of this, to block all of it, seems wrong to me,” Zelenskyy wrote on X. “It definitely helps only the Russians.”
An executive order signed by the US leader reversed crucial Russia-related US sanctions and tariffs that were originally set to take effect under the newly enacted Graham Act. Administration officials maintained that the temporary relief served national security priorities. The legislative framework was designed to ramp up economic pressure on Moscow following the military escalation in 2022.
Amid shifting diplomatic stances and public criticism directed at Kyiv’s administration, Zelenskyy argued that these measures fail to de-escalate hostilities.
“It only fuels their satisfaction and their desire to keep killing people,” wrote Zelenskyy. “This certainly does not stop the war.” (ANI)