Ukraine Watch

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday to “be careful” in public statements about U.S. support for Ukraine.

U.S.-provided Starlink internet was recently restricted in Ukraine, hindering the war-torn country’s ability to respond to Russian assaults. Ukraine uses Starshield, the military and government-controlled version of the commercial Starlink, to conduct military operations.

In an earlier interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Zelenskyy said he believed the U.S. government was responsible for the slowdown, and that Ukraine was “blocked” from U.S. intelligence for a period of time. Zelenskyy said Starshield-linked vehicles and drones are still being restricted in speed.

Bessent cautioned Zelenskyy about making those claims.

“President [Donald] Trump and Secretary [Marco] Rubio have categorically said that no one under the Trump administration did that, and I think it is very reckless for President Zelenskyy to make such a charge,” Bessent said on “Meet the Press.”

Footage shared on social media showed a major blaze at a warehouse operated by Ozon, Russia‘s second-largest online retailer, which said its logistics centre had been struck. Other images showed thick smoke rising from the area of the St Petersburg Oil Terminal, while an oil refinery and depot were also reportedly hit.

St Petersburg’s governor, Alexander Beglov, confirmed that air-defence systems had been activated after a large-scale Ukrainian drone attack on the city overnight, while Leningrad Region governor Alexander Drozdenko initially reported that 126 drones had been shot down over the surrounding region. He later raised that figure to 144, with some reports putting it at 145.

The assault set the Petersburg Oil Terminal and the Ruchyi oil depot alight and struck infrastructure in several districts of the city. Beglov said one person was killed and five others were injured, while operations at Pulkovo Airport were temporarily restricted for safety reasons.

The strikes came as President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Ukraine would resume attacks on Russian oil refineries after briefly suspending them following Donald Trump’s declaration of an “energy ceasefire” on 11 October. Neither side formally confirmed the arrangement, and Zelensky accused Russia of carrying out 76 attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure over the following week, including strikes on substations in four regions that left tens of thousands of families without power.

Burning bridges and Russian oil refineries alike, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a new interview that he will no longer accept President Donald Trump’s demand that Ukraine refrain from attacking Russia’s energy sector.

On Saturday, Trump vented his anger at Ukraine’s leader for attacking Russian refineries, as well as for his criticism of a deal between the U.S. and Russia to allow Russia to sell diesel fuel.

“I suggest they get a new leader,” Trump said.

.@POTUS: We told Zelensky, ‘You can do whatever you want to Russia, but don’t hit the refineries because that’s a world problem.’ And what does he do? He goes and hits the diesel fuel. He better damn well stop. https://t.co/CdRlMcPlKr

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) October 10, 2026