Trump Calls on Ukraine to Lay Off Energy Industry Strikes on Russia

A US President Donald Trump call on his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky to lay off attacking the Kremlin’s energy industry because diesel prices in the US are too high came in the wake of a record month of strikes by Ukraine against Russia’s energy sector, and about six hours too late to prevent waves of Ukrainian robot aircraft from setting two more Russian oil refineries on fire. The US president, speaking to reporters on Sunday during a visit to the 2026 Amgen Irish Open golf tournament, said that Ukraine’s long-range drone raids against Russian oil refineries were the main reason world diesel prices had spiked, and called on Zelensky to call off the attacks.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. “Mr. Zelensky has to do one thing: He has to stop knocking out diesel fuel in Russia. Let him go after targets – but not diesel fuel, because he’s causing a shortage of diesel. This isn’t done by the Middle East. This is done by what’s happening with Russia and Ukraine. So we spoke to Mr. Zelensky about it. There are plenty of other targets. Don’t hit diesel fuel because that’s hurting the world,” Trump told a gaggle of Irish and international reporters. One Ukrainian strike package launched in the early morning hours well before Trump stepped onto the Irish links flew some 300 kilometers (185 miles) through Russia-controlled air space to hit the Slavyansk-EKO refinery in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region, damaging a crude oil processing unit and fuel reservoirs. The plant’s main business is processing oil and gas condensate into refined fuels, including diesel. Other Topics of Interest Ukraine Has Leverage Over Trump Now Trump is trying to shift blame for rising global energy prices onto Ukraine, deflecting responsibility from himself while venting frustration over Kyiv’s increasingly assertive and autonomous course. As Trump, wearing a navy-blue suit and a white “USA” baseball cap under overcast skies, made his comments at Trump International Golf Links & Hotel Ireland in Doonbeg, County Clare, the fire at the refinery still was burning and visible from space, Kyiv Post review of timelines and imagery published by the NASA world-wide fire watch agency FIRMS found. Ukraine’s second kamikaze robot plane attack of the night penetrated 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) into Russian Federation territory to hit the Tatneft-operated Taneco refinery, in the upper Volga region of Tatarstan. The facility is one of Russia’s most modern and a top national producer of diesel. Recordings of major fires in progress at the center of the refinery appeared on local social media, but local authorities said that damage was minimal. Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces (USF) and military intelligence agency (HUR) took credit for the attacks. Ukrainian milbloggers, late on Saturday, reported that the country’s drone forces that night had launched more than 400 kamikaze aircraft to attack targets across the Russian Federation’s west and south. Russia’s Defense Ministry on Sunday claimed shoot downs of 389 fixed-wing drones nationwide. On Monday, FIRMS imagery showed significant thermal signatures consistent with major fires still burning at both locations. The attacks hitting Slavyansk-EKO and Tatneft-Taneco followed a week of near-daily air raids by Ukrainian drone swarms against Russian energy infrastructure including Sept. 7 strikes hitting refineries in Ryazan and Perm, Sept. 8 raids hitting a refinery in Saratov and a refinery and fuel storage in the Black Sea port Novorossiysk, a Sept. 10 attack setting an oil loading terminal on Russia’s Caspian Sea shore on fire, a Sept. 11 strike hitting another Saratov oil refinery, and Sept. 12 strikes hitting a third refinery in Saratov and the Oil Refinery and Lukoil-Permnefteorgsintez facility in Perm, deep inside Russia near the Ural Mountains. During their last full month of strike operations, August 2026, Ukraine’s drone forces set a new wartime record (21) for number of Russian oil refineries hit, according to data published by Ukraine’s national long-range strike data bank DeepStrike UA and strike statistics published by Ukraine’s USF. Russian refineries attacked by Ukraine’s wide-ranging drone forces over that month were in Omsk (first time in war), Saratov (hit by drones 12 times before), Syzran (three times), Perm (first time in war), Yaroslavl (six times), Krasnodar (10 times), Samara (five times), Tatarstan (one time), Tyumen (first time in war) and Orsk (one time before), Kyiv Post strike records showed. The August 2026 numbers were a 50% jump over refineries hit in July (14), and double the strike pace by USF units in October 2025 with seven refineries taking confirmed hits in the month, according to that data. Trump’s criticism of Ukrainian attacks on Russia’s energy industry echoed early September remarks by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent blaming Ukraine and its drone strikes against Russia for a global “energy shock” that, he claimed, was the cause of rocketing energy costs worldwide. A US-Israeli war with Iran leading to the near total shut down of tanker exports via the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf, along with worsening Red Sea tanker export volumes following Houthi capture of the Sea’s southern exit, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, are the main cause for rocketing crude oil and refined fuel prices – currently between $106-$120/bbl – most energy industry analysts say. As of Monday, US diesel prices were at record highs, exceeding $6 a gallon, and gasoline prices were near record highs, ranging from $4-$6 a gallon depending on the state, according to data published by the American Automobile Association. Russian President Vladimir Putin in Aug. 22 comments aired by state-controlled media said of Ukraine’s drone strikes on Russia: ““How effective are they – are they effective at all? And do they have any impact on the situation along the line of contact as a whole? The ultimate result for the adversary turned out to be the exact opposite of what was expected. No turning point occurred.” According to an Aug. 28 estimate by Bloomberg widely re-published in Ukrainian media, Ukraine’s drone strikes against Russia’s fossil fuel processing capacity has cut Russian Federation national production of gasoline, aviation fuel, diesel and other petroleum derivatives by more than 30%. Russian industry analysts likewise have said the reduction is close to a third and that bringing capacity back online will be difficult because Russian air defenses are struggling to stop the Ukrainian drones. Stefan Korshak is the Kyiv Post Senior Defense Correspondent. He is from Houston Texas, is a Yalie and since the mid-1990s has worked as correspondent/photographer for newswire, newspapers, television and radio. He has reported from five wars but most enjoys doing articles on wildlife and nature. You can read his weekly blog on the Russo-Ukraine War on Facebook, Substack and Medium. His new book on the 2022 Siege of Mariupol is available on Amazon UK and Amazon US.