Russia Accuses Ukraine of New Attacks on Energy Targets

Russia on Monday accused Ukraine of targeting and damaging energy infrastructure in violation of a fragile agreement announced last week by the United States that aims to ban attacks on energy facilities.

"Over the past 24 hours, despite the Kyiv regime's statements that it will not attack energy facilities, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have continued to strike the energy infrastructure of the Russian Federation," the Defense Ministry said in a statement. 

The ministry accused Ukrainian forces of damaging two facilities on Sunday night, causing two high-voltage power lines in the Bryansk border region to be disconnected, resulting in power outages. Moscow said the continued Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy facilities "testify to the Kyiv regime's complete lack of commitment to its obligations regarding the resolution of the conflict," according to the French news agency AFP. 

After several days of separate negotiations with Ukrainians and Russians, the United States last week issued two separate statements announcing a moratorium on bombing energy facilities on both sides. But no exact date or conditions were given, and Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of violating the agreement.

Prior to Washington's statement, Vladimir Putin had already announced on March 18 an immediate 30-day moratorium on attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, following a telephone conversation with Donald Trump.

At the time, the Russian president rejected a US proposal for an unconditional one-month ceasefire, a truce that Kyiv had accepted under pressure from President Trump's administration.

Russia has caused massive destruction since invading Ukraine in February 2022, including the neighboring country's power grid, plunging millions of people into darkness and cold.

Information about the course of the war released by both sides cannot be immediately independently verified.

The war caused hundreds of thousands of deaths and injuries, according to estimates from various sources, but the exact number of casualties is unknown.