Russia's view amid Ukraine's strikes and Zelenskyy's growing rift with the U.S.
✓Russian authorities say Ukraine struck a major oil refinery southeast of Moscow Thursday. The strike was in response to Russia's attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
Transcript
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
President Trump's latest attempt to rein in the war between Russia and Ukraine appears over before it ever began.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Ukraine struck back at Russian oil refineries on Thursday, responding to Russia's attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure. Both seem to have disregarded an energy ceasefire that Trump alone appears to have declared.
MARTÍNEZ: Joining us with a view from Moscow is NPR's Charles Maynes. So, Charles, tell us about these new Ukrainian attacks. What did they hit?
CHARLES MAYNES, BYLINE: Yeah, sure, A. These Russian authorities say Ukraine struck a major oil refinery in Ryazan. That's to the southeast of Moscow. We don't know the extent of the damage, but more important here is the message it sent. This attack occurred after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was, quote, "done" trying to abide by Trump's energy ceasefire, given that Russia had never ceased its attacks on Ukrainian electrical and heating infrastructure.
MARTÍNEZ: And the Kremlin - what's the Kremlin saying?
MAYNES: Well, we heard from President Vladimir Putin yesterday, who played down the seriousness of this strike on the oil facility but said it was part of a pattern of surprise Ukrainian attacks on energy, on commercial warehouses and elsewhere that Russia would avenge twice over. Here's Putin.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN: (Non-English language spoken).
MAYNES: So here Putin says Ukraine is constantly taking some measures - in other words, hitting targets - that Russia frankly hadn't thought of, and when we respond, Ukraine's Western backers lean on Russia to stop, even though Ukraine struck these targets first without thinking of the consequences.
So, you know, A, in a way, it's a backhanded compliment to Ukraine's tactical ingenuity, which incidentally seems to have found a new favorite target - Russian data centers. In recent days, Ukrainian drones have repeatedly struck Russia's premier tech companies - kind of think of the equivalent of Google - in order to disrupt services and bring the war home to Russians in a new way.
MARTÍNEZ: But Putin is blaming Ukraine for punching back. I mean, it sounds very much in line with what we've been hearing from President Trump, too.
MAYNES: Yeah. That's true. And President Trump has made clear he wants to bring an end to this war, and he now clearly blames Ukraine, and specifically President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, for preventing him from accomplishing that. Here's Trump discussing Zelenskyy yesterday in an interview with Rob Finnerty on Newsmax.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: They're going to end up with a settlement of some kind. They're not going to do it with him. He doesn't want to settle. He says he wants to settle, but he doesn't. No, I'm not a big fan of Zelenskyy. They've destroyed that country.
MAYNES: Now, A, Trump went on to say that dealing with Putin was a lot easier than dealing with Zelenskyy, which many in Ukraine will see as more proof that Trump's vision for a peace deal is one that inherently favors Russia.
MARTÍNEZ: So how does President Trump's apparent animosity to Zelenskyy look from Moscow?
MAYNES: Well, I think it's fair to say the Kremlin is sitting back and enjoying the show. Let's not forget this was all set off by this agreement that Trump struck with Putin to buy Russian diesel fuel, in defiance of sanctions, as Trump tries to tamp down gas prices before the U.S. midterm elections. Zelenskyy's openly criticized that deal for providing Russia with additional billions for its war chest, which it would.
It also puts Trump's ceasefire proposal in a different light. Trump's essentially pressuring Ukraine not to strike the U.S.'s investments in Russian diesel at a moment when Russia is ramping up its attacks on Ukraine. In fact, Ukraine's air force confirmed to NPR that they're now out of the U.S.-made Patriot missiles that are Kyiv's only means of stopping Russian ballistic missiles from continuing to pound Ukraine.
MARTÍNEZ: One more thing - that oil. Has Russia released the oil?
MAYNES: Yeah. No. The Kremlin yesterday confirmed it had started releasing the fuel to global markets. We may hear more about that from Putin when he takes the stage at an energy conference here in Moscow later today.
MARTÍNEZ: All right. That's NPR's Charles Maynes in Moscow. Thank you very much.
MAYNES: Thank you.
Copyright © 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
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Russian authorities say Ukraine struck a major oil refinery southeast of Moscow Thursday. The strike was in response to Russia's attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure
This lens runs the verified story through Cinnamon's AI — wired in the next step.
Russian authorities say Ukraine struck a major oil refinery southeast of Moscow Thursday. The strike was in response to Russia's attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
Transcript
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
President Trump's latest attempt to rein in the war between Russia and Ukraine appears over before it ever began.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Ukraine struck back at Russian oil refineries on Thursday, responding to Russia's attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure. Both seem to have disregarded an energy ceasefire that Trump alone appears to have declared.
MARTÍNEZ: Joining us with a view from Moscow is NPR's Charles Maynes. So, Charles, tell us about these new Ukrainian attacks. What did they hit?
CHARLES MAYNES, BYLINE: Yeah, sure, A. These Russian authorities say Ukraine struck a major oil refinery in Ryazan. That's to the southeast of Moscow. We don't know the extent of the damage, but more important here is the message it sent. This attack occurred after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was, quote, "done" trying to abide by Trump's energy ceasefire, given that Russia had never ceased its attacks on Ukrainian electrical and heating infrastructure.
MARTÍNEZ: And the Kremlin - what's the Kremlin saying?
MAYNES: Well, we heard from President Vladimir Putin yesterday, who played down the seriousness of this strike on the oil facility but said it was part of a pattern of surprise Ukrainian attacks on energy, on commercial warehouses and elsewhere that Russia would avenge twice over. Here's Putin.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN: (Non-English language spoken).
MAYNES: So here Putin says Ukraine is constantly taking some measures - in other words, hitting targets - that Russia frankly hadn't thought of, and when we respond, Ukraine's Western backers lean on Russia to stop, even though Ukraine struck these targets first without thinking of the consequences.
So, you know, A, in a way, it's a backhanded compliment to Ukraine's tactical ingenuity, which incidentally seems to have found a new favorite target - Russian data centers. In recent days, Ukrainian drones have repeatedly struck Russia's premier tech companies - kind of think of the equivalent of Google - in order to disrupt services and bring the war home to Russians in a new way.
MARTÍNEZ: But Putin is blaming Ukraine for punching back. I mean, it sounds very much in line with what we've been hearing from President Trump, too.
MAYNES: Yeah. That's true. And President Trump has made clear he wants to bring an end to this war, and he now clearly blames Ukraine, and specifically President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, for preventing him from accomplishing that. Here's Trump discussing Zelenskyy yesterday in an interview with Rob Finnerty on Newsmax.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: They're going to end up with a settlement of some kind. They're not going to do it with him. He doesn't want to settle. He says he wants to settle, but he doesn't. No, I'm not a big fan of Zelenskyy. They've destroyed that country.
MAYNES: Now, A, Trump went on to say that dealing with Putin was a lot easier than dealing with Zelenskyy, which many in Ukraine will see as more proof that Trump's vision for a peace deal is one that inherently favors Russia.
MARTÍNEZ: So how does President Trump's apparent animosity to Zelenskyy look from Moscow?
MAYNES: Well, I think it's fair to say the Kremlin is sitting back and enjoying the show. Let's not forget this was all set off by this agreement that Trump struck with Putin to buy Russian diesel fuel, in defiance of sanctions, as Trump tries to tamp down gas prices before the U.S. midterm elections. Zelenskyy's openly criticized that deal for providing Russia with additional billions for its war chest, which it would.
It also puts Trump's ceasefire proposal in a different light. Trump's essentially pressuring Ukraine not to strike the U.S.'s investments in Russian diesel at a moment when Russia is ramping up its attacks on Ukraine. In fact, Ukraine's air force confirmed to NPR that they're now out of the U.S.-made Patriot missiles that are Kyiv's only means of stopping Russian ballistic missiles from continuing to pound Ukraine.
MARTÍNEZ: One more thing - that oil. Has Russia released the oil?
MAYNES: Yeah. No. The Kremlin yesterday confirmed it had started releasing the fuel to global markets. We may hear more about that from Putin when he takes the stage at an energy conference here in Moscow later today.
MARTÍNEZ: All right. That's NPR's Charles Maynes in Moscow. Thank you very much.
MAYNES: Thank you.
Copyright © 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
Read the full story at NPR ↗ · Al Jazeera ↗
Russian authorities say Ukraine struck a major oil refinery southeast of Moscow Thursday. The strike was in response to Russia's attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
Transcript
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
President Trump's latest attempt to rein in the war between Russia and Ukraine appears over before it ever began.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Ukraine struck back at Russian oil refineries on Thursday, responding to Russia's attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure. Both seem to have disregarded an energy ceasefire that Trump alone appears to have declared.
MARTÍNEZ: Joining us with a view from Moscow is NPR's Charles Maynes. So, Charles, tell us about these new Ukrainian attacks. What did they hit?
CHARLES MAYNES, BYLINE: Yeah, sure, A. These Russian authorities say Ukraine struck a major oil refinery in Ryazan. That's to the southeast of Moscow. We don't know the extent of the damage, but more important here is the message it sent. This attack occurred after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was, quote, "done" trying to abide by Trump's energy ceasefire, given that Russia had never ceased its attacks on Ukrainian electrical and heating infrastructure.
MARTÍNEZ: And the Kremlin - what's the Kremlin saying?
MAYNES: Well, we heard from President Vladimir Putin yesterday, who played down the seriousness of this strike on the oil facility but said it was part of a pattern of surprise Ukrainian attacks on energy, on commercial warehouses and elsewhere that Russia would avenge twice over. Here's Putin.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN: (Non-English language spoken).
MAYNES: So here Putin says Ukraine is constantly taking some measures - in other words, hitting targets - that Russia frankly hadn't thought of, and when we respond, Ukraine's Western backers lean on Russia to stop, even though Ukraine struck these targets first without thinking of the consequences.
So, you know, A, in a way, it's a backhanded compliment to Ukraine's tactical ingenuity, which incidentally seems to have found a new favorite target - Russian data centers. In recent days, Ukrainian drones have repeatedly struck Russia's premier tech companies - kind of think of the equivalent of Google - in order to disrupt services and bring the war home to Russians in a new way.
MARTÍNEZ: But Putin is blaming Ukraine for punching back. I mean, it sounds very much in line with what we've been hearing from President Trump, too.
MAYNES: Yeah. That's true. And President Trump has made clear he wants to bring an end to this war, and he now clearly blames Ukraine, and specifically President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, for preventing him from accomplishing that. Here's Trump discussing Zelenskyy yesterday in an interview with Rob Finnerty on Newsmax.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: They're going to end up with a settlement of some kind. They're not going to do it with him. He doesn't want to settle. He says he wants to settle, but he doesn't. No, I'm not a big fan of Zelenskyy. They've destroyed that country.
MAYNES: Now, A, Trump went on to say that dealing with Putin was a lot easier than dealing with Zelenskyy, which many in Ukraine will see as more proof that Trump's vision for a peace deal is one that inherently favors Russia.
MARTÍNEZ: So how does President Trump's apparent animosity to Zelenskyy look from Moscow?
MAYNES: Well, I think it's fair to say the Kremlin is sitting back and enjoying the show. Let's not forget this was all set off by this agreement that Trump struck with Putin to buy Russian diesel fuel, in defiance of sanctions, as Trump tries to tamp down gas prices before the U.S. midterm elections. Zelenskyy's openly criticized that deal for providing Russia with additional billions for its war chest, which it would.
It also puts Trump's ceasefire proposal in a different light. Trump's essentially pressuring Ukraine not to strike the U.S.'s investments in Russian diesel at a moment when Russia is ramping up its attacks on Ukraine. In fact, Ukraine's air force confirmed to NPR that they're now out of the U.S.-made Patriot missiles that are Kyiv's only means of stopping Russian ballistic missiles from continuing to pound Ukraine.
MARTÍNEZ: One more thing - that oil. Has Russia released the oil?
MAYNES: Yeah. No. The Kremlin yesterday confirmed it had started releasing the fuel to global markets. We may hear more about that from Putin when he takes the stage at an energy conference here in Moscow later today.
MARTÍNEZ: All right. That's NPR's Charles Maynes in Moscow. Thank you very much.
MAYNES: Thank you.
Copyright © 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
Read the full story at NPR ↗ · Al Jazeera ↗
This lens runs the verified story through Cinnamon's AI — wired in the next step.
- Russian authorities say Ukraine struck a major oil refinery southeast of Moscow Thursday.
- The strike was in response to Russia's attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure