President Donald Trump on Sunday urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to stop targeting Russian oil refineries and diesel infrastructure, arguing the strikes are contributing to a worldwide fuel shortage. His comments came just days after U.S. diesel prices hit a record high, climbing above $6 a gallon on average on Friday.
For months, Ukraine has carried out long-range strikes against Russia’s oil and gas sector, leading to fuel rationing inside Russia and prompting Moscow to halt diesel exports in July—further tightening an already strained global supply. The shortage has also been worsened by disruptions to oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz stemming from the conflict involving Iran.
With rising fuel costs becoming a political issue ahead of the U.S. midterm elections in November, Trump addressed reporters at the Irish Open, held at his Doonbeg golf club, after being asked whether he’d spoken with Zelenskyy following a recent call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Mr. Zelenskyy has to do one thing. He has to stop knocking out diesel fuel in Russia,” Trump said, adding that Ukraine has “plenty of other targets” it could pursue instead. “Don’t hit diesel fuel, because that’s hurting the world.”
Diesel Exports Plunge Since Iran Conflict Began
A Friday report from the International Energy Agency found that net diesel and gasoil exports from Gulf countries in August were only about a quarter of pre-war levels, with the war involving Iran having begun in February. The agency noted that disruptions to Russian refining, combined with a near-total halt in Russian exports following intensified Ukrainian strikes, have deepened the supply crunch. Before the war, Gulf and Russian diesel exports combined had accounted for nearly 45% of global seaborne fuel trade.
Ukrainian officials argue that Russia’s oil industry both finances and directly enables its ongoing invasion, now in its fifth year.
Overnight Violence Continues on Both Sides
Russia has intensified its aerial campaign in recent weeks, deploying ballistic missiles and jet-powered drones against Ukraine’s power infrastructure ahead of winter—a strategy Ukrainian officials say is designed to demoralize the civilian population.
Overnight into Sunday, both countries exchanged heavy drone strikes, resulting in civilian casualties on each side. In Russia’s Tatarstan region, two people were killed and 14 injured near an industrial and oil hub after a drone struck a tree next to a parked car in Nizhnekamsk, a city known for its cluster of refineries. Local officials confirmed a fire broke out at an unnamed facility.
Ukraine also reported striking a major refinery in Slavyansk-on-Kuban, in Russia’s Krasnodar region near Crimea, hitting a processing unit and fuel storage tanks. Russian officials said the strike injured three people and damaged a pipeline. Russia’s defense ministry said it intercepted 389 Ukrainian drones overnight.
Meanwhile, Russia targeted Odesa and western Ukraine. At least nine people were hurt in a large-scale overnight attack on Odesa, a critical Black Sea port city that Kyiv says Moscow is trying to blockade economically. A separate strike on Saturday hit a residential building in the city, killing two and injuring 26.
Western Ukraine also came under fire, including a drone strike that ignited a fire near a gas station at the Yahodyn-Dorohusk border crossing with Poland—a key route for Western military and humanitarian aid. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha condemned the strike as Russian “terror” reaching the doorstep of the EU and NATO. A local customs spokesperson confirmed the crossing itself remained intact and no injuries were reported there.
The attack followed a deadly strike earlier in the week on the Starokozache crossing between Ukraine and Moldova, which killed two people, and a separate threat to a Polish-Ukrainian crossing that was averted through coordination between Warsaw and Kyiv, according to Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
Ukraine’s air force reported intercepting or neutralizing 409 of the 453 Russian drones launched overnight, including newer jet-powered models that are faster and harder to shoot down.
