Burc Eruygur
19 March 2025•Update: 19 March 2025
ISTANBUL
Moscow and Kyiv on Wednesday exchanged accusations over infrastructure attacks taking place the night after Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to a temporary halt for strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities.
Ukraine’s Air Force on Telegram claimed that its air defenses shot down 72 out of 145 drones launched by Russia over the Kharkiv, Poltava, Sumy, Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Vinnytsia, Kirovohrad, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Odesa regions.
It said the strikes affected the Sumy, Odesa, Poltava, Dnipropetrovsk, Kyiv, and Chernihiv regions.
In the Sumy region, the regional military administration said on Telegram that a drone struck the roof of the regional clinical hospital in the settlement of Krasnopillia.
Meanwhile, Dnipropetrovsk Governor Serhiy Lysak said on Telegram that an infrastructure facility was damaged in his region’s Pavlohrad district.
“It is these types of nighttime attacks by Russia that destroy our energy sector, our infrastructure, and the normal life of Ukrainians. And the fact that this night is no exception shows that the pressure on Russia must continue for the sake of peace,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X.
Expressing that Putin “effectively rejected” the US proposal for a full ceasefire, Zelenskyy argued that it would be “right for the world” to respond to this by rejecting Putin’s attempts to “prolong the war.”
“Sanctions against Russia. Assistance to Ukraine. Strengthening allies in the free world and working toward security guarantees. And only a real cessation of strikes on civilian infrastructure by Russia, as proof of its willingness to end this war, can bring peace closer,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed in an initial statement that its air defenses downed 57 Ukrainian drones over the Kursk, Oryol, Tula, and Bryansk regions, with seven of them intercepted over the Sea of Azov.
In a later statement, the ministry said an energy facility near the village of Kavkazskaya in the country's southern Krasnodar region was hit, depressurizing an oil tank and resulting in a fire over an area of 1,700 square meters (18,298 square feet)
"It is absolutely clear that this is another provocation specially prepared by the Kyiv regime, aimed at disrupting the peace initiatives of the US President," it said, adding that its forces "neutralized" seven Russian drones flying over Ukraine when Putin ordered a halt on strikes against energy facilities.
Earlier, local authorities in Krasnodar said a fire broke out at an oil depot located near Kavkazskaya.
The claims come as Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump discussed normalizing bilateral ties, prospects for settling the Ukraine conflict, and the situation in the Middle East in a two-and-a-half-hour phone call on Tuesday.
During the call, Putin agreed to a limited ceasefire that would temporarily halt attacks "on all energy and infrastructure" amid the Kremlin's ongoing war against Ukraine. Zelenskyy said later in the evening that he would support the initiative.
