Ukraine Still Hitting Russian Energy Sites, Kremlin Says, As Naval Ceasefire Not Yet Implemented

This article was originally published by Tyler Durden at ZeroHedge. 

It has been less than 24 hours since an expanded Ukrainian ‘partial ceasefire’ was announced to include not just a 30-day halt in attacking energy infrastructure but a pause in attacks in the Black Sea, and already there are accusations that the deal has been broken once again.

Russia has said the naval ceasefire would only come into force after Washington lifts sanctions against its food and fertilizer trade. The energy and Black Sea ceasefires were announced Tuesday, having been agreed to in separate meetings between both warring countries and the US in Saudi-hosted talks.

The Russian Defense Ministry has said that overnight, there were several new attacks targeting Russia’s energy infrastructure, including UAVs sent against the Glebovskoye underground gas storage facility in Crimea.

The ministry also cited the loss of power for some 4,000 people in Kursk region after a Ukrainian drone struck an energy facility.

These ongoing attacks are happening, the ministry said Wednesday, “despite a public statement by Zelensky about accepting the Russian-American agreements reached in Riyadh on March 24 to stop attacks on civilian energy facilities.”

“By continuing to deliver damage to Russia’s civilian energy infrastructure, the Kiev regime is, in fact, doing everything to disrupt the Russian-American agreements on implementing step-by-step measures to resolve the Ukrainian conflict,” the statement read.

Ukraine is also in turn accusing Russia of violating the Riyadh deals, and of not being serious about achieving peace:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on the United States on Wednesday to further sanction Moscow, which he said was clearly not pursuing a “real peace” after a night of Russian drone attacks that caused damage in several places.

He singled out strikes on his hometown of Kryvyi Rih and the northern region of Sumy, as questions swirled over basic details of two ceasefire agreements that were announced by the United States on Tuesday after talks in Saudi Arabia.

As for the new Black Sea initiative, there is already severe disagreement with Ukraine concerning its scope and implementation.

“In accordance with the agreement between the presidents of Russia and the United States, both sides have committed to implementing the Black Sea initiative,” a Kremlin statement said, affirming the US-backed agreement. “This initiative includes guaranteeing safe navigation in the Black Sea, refraining from the use of force, and prohibiting the use of commercial vessels for military purposes, while establishing appropriate control measures through inspections of such vessels.”

Ukraine has already accused Moscow of “lying” about the terms of the agreement:

• The Ukrainian defence ministry then said the movement of Russian warships outside the “eastern part of the Black Sea” would be treated as a violation of the agreement
• President Zelensky called the deal a “step in the right direction” but that it was “too early” to say whether it would work
• Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov – who took part in the Riyadh talks with the US – said “technical consultations” were needed “as soon as possible to agree on all the details and technical aspects of the implementation, monitoring and control of the arrangements”
• And Russia said certain sanctions must be lifted from banks, food producers and exporters before the ceasefire could come into effect

“The Kremlin is lying again, claiming that the Black Sea ceasefire supposedly depends on sanctions and that the energy ceasefire supposedly began on 18 March. Moscow always lies,” President Zelensky said Tuesday night. He continued, “It depends on the world and on all those who really need peace whether Russia will be allowed to lie again.”

So it seems there are still some significant hurdles to be overcome before the Black Sea naval ceasefire takes effect and is implemented, not the least of which is Moscow’s demand that its banks involved in international trade in food and fertilizers be fully reconnected to the SWIFT payment system.