Russia has struck Ukraine's energy sites 8 times since Putin's claimed pause on March 18, Zelensky's advisor says
"Moscow is a city built on lies, no surprise to anyone in Ukraine," President Volodymyr Zelensky's aide said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on March 18 that he had ordered a 30-day halt on strikes against energy facilities after rejecting a full truce on all military operations in a phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump.
After separate rounds of talks between the U.S., Russia, and Ukraine in Riyadh, all three parties declared a halt on strikes against energy facilities and military operations in the Black Sea.
Moscow claimed that the Black Sea ceasefire would take effect only after some Western sanctions were lifted, while alleging that the energy truce had been in effect since March 18.
"But the reality is – since March 18, they've been hitting our energy sites with bombs, attack drones, and FPV drones," Lytvyn commented.
"We're not going into all the details, but there have already been eight confirmed hits on energy facilities."
The official did not specify which facilities were hit or when. The Kyiv Independent could not verify the claims.
DTEK, Ukraine's largest energy company, told the Kyiv Independent that their facilities recorded no hits between March 18 and 25, despite being regularly targeted before that.
Lytvyn also noted that Ukrainian air defenses have shot down hundreds of Russian drones every night since March 18, claiming that "many of those drones were likely targeting other energy facilities."
Dominic Culverwell contributed to the reporting for this article.
Read also: 'Not what Ukraine needs' — Black Sea ceasefire favors Russia more than Ukraine, say experts
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