Ukraine Claims 30 Russian Attacks on Energy Since March
KYIV (Reuters) - Ukraine accused Russia on Wednesday of carrying out more than 30 attacks on its energy infrastructure since the two sides agreed in March to pause strikes on such targets.
Russia attacked energy facilities in Kherson and Mykolaiv in the south and Poltava in the centre of the country over the past 24 hours, Ukraine's foreign ministry spokesperson, Heorhii Tykhyi, said at a news briefing.
"We consider that the energy ceasefire began on March 25," he said. "Unfortunately, we can see that Russia is violating this agreement almost on a daily basis. Not even one month has passed since the agreement was made, but Russia has already violated this agreement over 30 times."
Both Kyiv and Moscow accuse each other of violating the U.S.-brokered 30-day limited ceasefire on energy infrastructure strikes.
On Wednesday, Russia's defence ministry said Ukraine carried out six attacks on Russian energy infrastructure over the past day, the RIA state news agency reported.
Tykhyi said Ukraine was providing details on the alleged violations to its Western allies.
The limited energy truce was expected to be a stepping stone towards a full ceasefire, eventually paving the way for a peace deal that would end more than three years of war with Russia.
Ukraine has agreed to a broader U.S. ceasefire proposal, but Russia has effectively blocked it by imposing additional conditions.
Fighting continues to rage along more than 1,000 km (600 miles) of the frontline.
Russian forces grind on in the Ukrainian east. The fiercest battles were around the Pokrovsk, Toretsk, and Lyman directions, Ukraine's military said in its daily update.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said that Moscow also planned a fresh offensive in the northeast towards Kharkiv and Sumy regions.
(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; Writing by Olena Harmash; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
