Ukraine again ‘unilaterally’ attacks Russian energy infrastructure – MOD
The Ukrainian military has targeted two energy facilities in Russia’s Belgorod Region over the past 24 hours, the Defense Ministry in Moscow has said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin accepted a proposal by his US counterpart Donald Trump to adhere to a 30-day pause on targeting energy facilities operated by Kiev and Moscow during their phone call on March 18.
Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky also said that his country would abide by the truce. However, the Russian military has since accused Kiev’s forces of breaching the partial ceasefire on an almost daily basis.
“In violation of the Russia-US agreement, Kiev continues its unilateral attacks on Russian energy infrastructure,” the ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
On Saturday evening, more than 600 households were left without electricity in Belgorod Region’s Shebekinsky District of as a result of the “deliberate shelling” of a local energy facility by Ukrainian forces, the statement read.
On Sunday morning, another bombardment of energy infrastructure by Kiev’s troops led to power shortages in the village of Stepnoye in Krasnoyaruzhsky District, it added.
The Kremlin said that Russia is abiding by the truce and has refrained from targeting Ukrainian energy facilities in order to build goodwill with Washington, but it also warned that Moscow reserves the right to pull out of the 30-day agreement early if it is not honored by Kiev.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has previously suggested that Ukraine is deliberately violating the partial ceasefire in an attempt to undermine peace initiatives and the dialogue between Russia and the US.
