Jens Asbjørn Bøgen
The energy truce was announced Thursday last week, but now Trump says, it was from Sunday to Sunday.
Thursday, January 29, U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters that Russia had agreed to a week-long halt to attacks on energy infrastructure, The Guardian reported at the time.
Fast forward to the beginning of this week, when Russia launched its largest assault on Ukraine’s energy sector since the start of the year late on Monday, with shelling reported in Kyiv, Kharkiv, and areas along the Dnipro River.
The strikes triggered power and heating cuts as temperatures fell to around minus 20 degrees.
In a statement, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the Russian attack involved more than 70 missiles and 450 drones. Article continues below.
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The attacks followed a violent week that began on January 25 and ran through February 1. During that period, Russian forces hit multiple civilian targets across the country.
On Sunday, a bus carrying miners was attacked, according to Ukrainian officials. Days earlier, a civilian train in the Kharkiv region was struck, while the port city of Odesa on the Black Sea also came under fire.
Trump: “It was Sunday to Sunday”
According to POLITICO, the energy truce was supposed to be in effect from Thursday last week, meaning Russia broke the truce about halfway through the week-long ceasefire.
But following the Russian attack this week, President Donald Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin had respected a limited pause.
“It was Sunday to Sunday and it ended, and last night he hit them hard,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, according to Reuters.
It is unclear why Donald Trump announced the agreed ceasefire on Thursday last week if the ceasefire entered into effect four days earlier.
A clear Russian strategy
Citing data from Ukraine’s air force, ABC News reports Russia launched 4,577 long-range drones and missiles into Ukraine during January.
Of those, 83% of the drones and approximately half of the missiles were downed or suppressed, according to the air force.
Sources: The Guardian, POLITICO, Reuters, ABC News
