Zelenskyy calls for US sanction on Russia after fresh drone strikes

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

Zelensky 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.

The United States said it agreed to separate deals with Ukraine and Russia to pause their strikes over the Black Sea and against each other's energy targets, although it was unclear when the agreements came into force.

The Ukrainian leader said they were effective immediately, but the Kremlin said the Black Sea agreements would not come into effect unless some Russian banks were linked back up with the international financial system.

The Kremlin added that it was already implementing its pause on energy attacks.

None of the Ukrainian statements said Russia attacked energy infrastructure overnight, but Zelensky said they went against the spirit of the peace talks.

“Launching such large-scale attacks after ceasefire negotiations is a clear signal to the whole world that Moscow is not going to pursue real peace,” Zelensky wrote on X.

Russia, which only reports the destruction of drones, said it had destroyed nine drones, including two over the Black Sea.

Moscow said Ukraine had tried to attack a gas storage facility in Russian-occupied Crimea and energy infrastructure in Russia's Kursk and Bryansk regions.

At the time of filing this report, there was no immediate response from Kyiv.

The Ukrainian military reported 117 drone attacks and local officials said the city of Kryvyi Rih had been hit by the biggest drone attack it has faced since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.

Writing on the Telegram messaging app, the head of the military administration, Oleksandr Vilkul, said the attack sparked fires and damaged buildings.

“Apparently, this is how the occupiers want peace,” he said.

According to him, there were at least 15 explosions in the city, which has been regularly attacked throughout the war.