Ukraine energy infrastructure under attack by Russia: minister

Russia launched a “massive missile and drone” attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure on Friday, a Ukrainian minister said, after Washington said talks with Kyiv were back on track to secure a truce in the three-year conflict.

The latest air assault came after EU leaders, shaken by the prospect of US disengagement, agreed to boost the European bloc’s defences at a crisis summit on Thursday.

And Washington said talks with Kyiv were back on track to secure a ceasefire with Moscow — after a public falling out between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky.

US and Ukrainian officials were expected to meet Tuesday in Saudi Arabia, a senior Kyiv official said, with Zelensky voicing hope for a “meaningful meeting”, and US envoy Steve Witkoff pledging to speak to Ukrainian negotiators about an “initial ceasefire” with Russia and a “framework” for a longer agreement.

Early Friday, however, Ukraine’s energy and gas infrastructure was again “under massive missile and drone shelling”, Energy Minister German Galushchenko said.

“Russia is trying to hurt ordinary Ukrainians by shelling energy and gas production facilities, without abandoning its goal of leaving us without power and heating, and causing the greatest harm to ordinary citizens,” he added in a post on Facebook.

Five people were wounded in a strike Friday morning on Kharkiv, including a woman pulled from the rubble alive, the city’s mayor, Igor Terekhov, said in posts on Telegram.

“A fire broke out at the scene of the impact. A nearby apartment building was also damaged,” Terekhov said, adding that its residents were being evacuated.

He later added that a “critical infrastructure building” was damaged.

Kharkiv Governor Oleg Synegubov also said on Telegram that a Russian strike hit a private company in Kharkiv, and left cars on fire.

“A 65-year-old woman and a 61-year-old man were hospitalised,” Synegubov added.

Late Thursday, the Ukrainian emergency service also said “critical infrastructure” was damaged in an attack on the Odesa region in the south, with no injuries reported.

Missiles from Russia also struck a “critical industrial facility” overnight in Ternopil region, governor Vyacheslav Negoda said.

“Air defence forces shot down an enemy missile,” and no casualties were reported, Negoda said, adding that there may be restrictions on gas supply.

– ‘Money where our mouth is’ –

In Brussels on Thursday, European countries greenlit a plan to “re-arm Europe” against the perceived threat from Russia, rallying around Ukraine after Zelensky’s White House blow-up with Trump, and Washington’s pause on military aid and intelligence sharing to Kyiv.

“We are moving decisively towards a strong and more sovereign Europe of defence,” Antonio Costa, who heads the Council of the EU’s 27 states, told reporters after the talks.

“We are putting our money where our mouth is.”

Leaders endorsed the European Commission’s aim to mobilise about 800 billion euros ($860 billion) for defence spending, committing to examine “as a matter of urgency” its proposal to provide members with EU-backed loans of up to 150 billion euros.

The defence plan eases fiscal rules to allow states to spend much more — at a time when Germany’s chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz is embracing radical reforms to fund the country’s rearmament.

France’s President Emmanuel Macron has likewise called for a defence spending surge and suggested extending France’s nuclear deterrent to European partners.

European governments are under pressure to step up defence as Trump questions whether the United States — the guarantor of Europe’s security since World War II — should continue its central role in NATO.

The US leader once again called that commitment into question on Thursday, complaining that its allies “should be paying more.”