RismadarVoice Reporters
September 14, 2026
US President Donald Trump has urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to stop attacks on Russian oil refineries and other facilities involved in the production and distribution of diesel, warning that the strikes are worsening a global fuel shortage.
Trump made the call on Sunday after average diesel prices in the United States rose above $6 per gallon, reaching a record level.
Speaking to reporters at his golf resort in Doonbeg, Ireland, Trump said he had discussed the issue with Zelenskyy and argued that Ukraine should target other facilities instead of Russia’s fuel infrastructure.
“Mr Zelenskyy has to do one thing. He has to stop knocking out diesel fuel in Russia,” Trump said.
Ukraine has intensified attacks on Russia’s oil and gas infrastructure in recent months, arguing that the industry provides crucial revenue for Moscow’s war effort.
The strikes have disrupted fuel supplies inside Russia and contributed to Moscow’s decision to restrict diesel exports in July, further tightening supplies in international markets.
The International Energy Agency said in a report published Friday that disruptions to Russia’s refining operations, combined with a sharp reduction in fuel exports from Gulf countries, had significantly reduced global diesel availability.
The agency said combined diesel and gasoil exports from Russia and the Gulf accounted for nearly 45 per cent of global seaborne trade in February, before the war in Iran disrupted oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump’s comments come as rising energy costs put additional pressure on US consumers ahead of the November midterm elections.
The comments followed another night of intense Russian and Ukrainian drone attacks.
Two people were killed and 14 others injured in Russia’s Tatarstan region, according to local authorities. Officials said the casualties occurred in Nizhnekamsk, a major industrial area that houses oil refineries and other facilities.
Ukraine also claimed responsibility for an attack on an oil refinery in Sloviansk-on-Kuban in Russia’s Krasnodar region. Ukrainian military intelligence said its drones hit an oil-processing unit and storage facilities.
Russian officials said three people were injured and an oil pipeline was damaged in the attack.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said its forces intercepted 389 Ukrainian drones overnight.
In Ukraine, authorities reported at least nine people injured in a large Russian drone attack on the southern port city of Odesa.
The strikes also affected parts of western Ukraine, where a Russian drone reportedly hit a petrol station near the Yahodyn-Dorohusk border crossing with Poland.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha condemned the attack, saying the repeated strikes near Poland’s border demonstrated the wider security threat posed by Russia to NATO and the European Union.
Ukraine’s air force said its defences had intercepted or suppressed 409 Russian drones overnight out of 453 launched by Moscow, including a newer jet-powered model that is reportedly faster and harder to intercept.