Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Saturday 3 October 2026 that Kyiv would intensify its attacks on Russian oil refineries in response to what he described as a new policy adopted by Moscow in its air raids, stressing that Ukrainian forces would not target civilians or respond with indiscriminate strikes on civilian facilities.
Zelenskyy announces expanded strikes on Russian oil refineries
Zelenskyy said Ukrainian intelligence agencies had obtained documents indicating, according to his account, that Russian President Vladimir Putin had issued instructions allowing the scope of targets to be expanded before winter. He added that the policy included targeting infrastructure, logistics facilities, roads, schools and hospitals, with the aim of pressuring residents to leave Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities.
The Ukrainian president attributed the shift in Russian policy that he described to Putin’s desire to appear strong, at a time when he said Russian forces were losing territory in a key area of the frontline and suffering mounting casualties. The Russian Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, said in a statement urging foreign nationals to leave Kyiv that Moscow would continue regularly striking targets it said were in response to Ukrainian attacks on Russia in recent months.
Both sides deny deliberately targeting civilians. Zelenskyy said Ukraine would respond to attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities by targeting Russia’s energy sector, particularly oil refineries, which he said provide funds used to finance the war.
At the same time, he stressed that his country would not follow the same approach it attributes to Moscow and would not launch indiscriminate strikes on civilian targets. The Ukrainian capital came under repeated drone and missile attacks over the past week, hitting energy and communications facilities as well as road and railway networks.
Russian forces also targeted, for the first time, bridges spanning the Dnieper River that link Kyiv’s eastern and western sides. Zelenskyy’s remarks coincided with air-raid sirens sounding around the Ukrainian presidential office. He said he had received no indications that Putin was ready to enter peace talks or discuss a mutual halt to attacks on energy facilities.
‘Vivaldi’ offensive regains territory in Donbas
On battlefield developments, the Ukrainian president said a counter-offensive carried out by his forces under the name ‘Vivaldi’ had regained about 140 square kilometres of territory in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. Russia is demanding control of the entire region as part of its conditions for any potential agreement to end the war, according to Moscow’s stated position.
Zelenskyy made the remarks as US President Donald Trump’s administration seeks to revive negotiations aimed at ending the war. Trump called on Ukraine in September to refrain from striking Russian oil facilities, saying the attacks were contributing to a rise in global diesel prices.
Zelenskyy warned Washington against normalising relations with Russia before peace was reached, after the US administration invited Putin to attend the G20 summit scheduled to take place in Miami in December and discussed trade deals with Russian envoys. The Ukrainian president said he was ready to meet Putin and hold peace talks during the G20 summit, but urged the United States not to believe that Russia would halt its military operations if it gained control of the Donbas region.
He added that the resumption of economic and diplomatic relations between Russia and Western countries should be linked to achieving peace. The United States is proposing the resumption of trilateral talks involving representatives of the US, Russia and Ukraine in the United Arab Emirates in the coming weeks.
Warnings of winter attacks on energy facilities
However, Zelenskyy said the date and location of the technical talks had not been finalised. On air defences, Ukrainian officials warn that Russia has stockpiled hundreds of ballistic missiles in preparation for expected attacks on electricity and water facilities during the winter.
Russian strikes last winter caused electricity and heating outages across wide areas of Ukraine for consecutive days. Zelenskyy said Moscow had begun launching dozens of jet-powered Shahed drones daily since the summer, describing them as fast and relatively low-cost aircraft. He added that the Ukrainian interception systems previously used had not been fast enough to shoot them down.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine would receive its first shipment of small, low-cost air-defence missiles in the second half of October, capable of targeting the new jet-powered drones. Zelenskyy had previously announced that his country was developing five models of new interceptor drones designed to shoot down jet-powered Shahed drones.
Tests carried out on two of the models showed a success rate of about 30 per cent, according to the Ukrainian president, who stressed the need to expand their production and deployment. Ukraine also announced during the week the first combat use of its domestically produced FP-7 ballistic missile, which has a range of about 250 kilometres.
Zelenskyy said he had asked the manufacturer, Fire Point, to speed up completion of the longer-range FP-9 model, which the company says will be capable of reaching Moscow. The Ukrainian president expressed confidence that the new missile would be ready during the autumn, as Kyiv seeks to expand its long-range capabilities and reduce its reliance on weapons supplied by allies.
Ukraine accuses Russia of hybrid operations in Europe
Zelenskyy accused Russia of being behind drone incursions and attacks in Europe that he described as hybrid operations, saying they were intended to frighten European residents and weaken support for Ukraine. Moscow denies the accusations and describes them as baseless.
Zelenskyy said talks held by Ukrainian officials with their European counterparts in Brussels had secured funding for drone orders Kyiv needs to continue fighting in early 2027. He added that Ukrainian officials had prepared a plan with European partners to close a 27 billion US dollar gap in Ukraine’s defence budget during the current year.
The plan includes reallocating resources from the Ukrainian budget, obtaining bilateral aid and using allocations from next year’s share under a European Union loan with a total value of 90 billion euros.
