Russia and Ukraine traded accusations Wednesday about violating a 30-day pause on strikes against energy facilities in each other’s countries.
The US announced separate agreements Tuesday with Russia and Ukraine to “ensure safe navigation” in the Black Sea and a halt strikes on each other’s energy facilities for 30 days following talks in the Saudi Arabian capital.
Moscow and Kyiv later confirmed the agreements, though the Kremlin said they would take effect as soon as certain restrictions and sanctions on Russia are lifted.
A statement by the Russian Defense Ministry claimed that it shot down multiple Ukrainian drones that were targeting energy infrastructure overnight in the Bryansk and Kursk regions, as well as the Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow illegally annexed in 2014.
It accused Ukraine of trying to do everything to disrupt the agreements reached between Russia and the US.
A statement by Ukraine’s General Staff denied the Russian Defense Ministry statement, saying that Moscow’s claims “do not correspond to reality.”
It accused Russia of “spreading false and unfounded accusations in order to prolong the war.”
Russia’s accusations came hours after Ukrainian presidential adviser Dmytro Lytvyn claimed Moscow struck the energy facilities eight times since March 18, and more hits on similar facilities would have been recorded without the military.
“The Russians are lying even when the truth is obvious. It’s just lying for the sake of lying. That’s why whatever they say or promise needs to be double-checked, and that part is now on our partners,” Lytvyn wrote on X.
Later Wednesday, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi claimed that Kyiv received reports about “diesel reservoir damage” at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, saying that the spilled fuel could have powered the station’s emergency generators for 25 days.
“Russians not only stole the plant, but they are unable to manage its basic safety. This incident is the direct result of Russia’s reckless replacement of licensed Ukrainian experts with unqualified, temporary Russian operatives,” Tykhyi said on X, calling for the facility’s return to Ukrainian control.
Yuri Chernichuk, the Russian-installed head of the plant, denied the “false” reports by Tykhyi in a statement on Telegram.
The situation around the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Europe’s largest and one of the world’s 10 biggest, remains tense as concerns persist about a possible nuclear disaster involving Moscow and Kyiv, both of which have frequently accused each other of attacks around the facility.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) personnel have been present since Sept. 1, 2022, at the plant, which has been under Russian control since March 2022.