Kyiv pushes back on Trump’s call for a new Ukrainian president as drones hit Russian data hub

Zelenskyy Says Ukraine Ready to Halt Strikes on Russian Refineries if Moscow Stops Targeting Energy Grid

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated on Sunday that Ukraine would cease strikes on Russian oil refineries if Russia halted attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure. The comment followed remarks by U.S. President Donald Trump calling for a new Ukrainian leader and linking high U.S. diesel prices to Zelenskyy’s decisions.

Zelenskyy wrote on X that any pause in strikes on energy targets must be mutual and supported by verifiable guarantees. “It is possible to stop strikes on energy infrastructure as early as today, but Putin does not want to do so,” he said. He attributed responsibility for the continuation of the conflict solely to Russia.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha responded to Trump’s statements in a post on X, asserting that Zelenskyy holds public support and that decisions on leadership belong to Ukrainian citizens. Sybiha described the comments from abroad as confirmation that Zelenskyy is performing his duties effectively.

Trump said on Saturday that Ukraine should select a different president, stating that Zelenskyy had opportunities to reach agreements but had not done so. Trump also attributed elevated diesel prices in the United States to Ukrainian actions. On Friday, Trump announced an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the purchase of Russian diesel to address domestic fuel prices ahead of U.S. midterm elections. Ukrainian and European officials expressed concern that the purchases would generate revenue for Russia’s military operations.

Ukraine and Russia have continued long-range strikes on each other’s infrastructure while ground forces remain largely stalemated along the front lines more than four and a half years after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Yandex Reports Third Data Center Hit in Four Days

A Ukrainian drone strike on Sunday disabled a Yandex data center in the city of Vladimir, east of Moscow, according to the company. Yandex stated that operations at the facility were fully halted and that no injuries occurred. The attack marked the third strike on Yandex facilities within four days.

Earlier strikes occurred on Thursday in the Ryazan region and on Friday in the Kaluga region. Yandex reported that the Kaluga incident partially disrupted services. The outages affected taxi ordering and banking access for users in multiple Russian cities as well as in Kazakhstan, Belarus, and Armenia, according to the independent Russian outlet Astra.

Yandex operates Russia’s most widely used search engine and provides a range of digital services, including artificial intelligence development. Ukraine’s strikes on Russian data centers have followed Russian attacks on similar facilities inside Ukraine.

Death Toll Reported in Zaporizhzhia and Bryansk Incidents

Zelenskyy announced that search and rescue operations had concluded in Zaporizhzhia following a Russian strike on Saturday. Ivan Fedorov, former regional head and co-chair of the regional defense council, stated that 23 people were killed, including four children, and more than 30 others were wounded. Eight of the wounded remained hospitalized as of Sunday.

In Russia’s Bryansk border region, local officials reported that one man was killed and two women wounded in a Ukrainian drone strike on Sunday.

The sequence of events reflects ongoing exchanges of long-range strikes between the two sides alongside diplomatic statements from Kyiv, Moscow, and Washington concerning leadership, energy supplies, and possible limits on targeting infrastructure.