Ukraine’s reported halt on new attacks against Russian oil refineries came under scrutiny Friday as The Wall Street Journal reported a strike on a plant in Russia’s Samara Region.
In an Oct. 29 report, the Journal cited two military officials who described a mid-October directive for Ukraine’s long-range units. The directive restricted new refinery missions; operations already in progress were allowed to run their course. Reuters said it could not verify the Journal’s account.
On Friday, Samara Region Gov. Vyacheslav Fedorishchev said Ukrainian forces were attacking the region. He described air defenses and mobile fire teams as responding but did not say which site was targeted. Imagery published by monitoring channel Exilenova+ appeared to show a fire near the Novokuybyshevsk refinery after overnight drone activity. The Kyiv Independent said it could not authenticate the footage or establish the extent of any damage. The Journal identified the refinery as the site hit.
Kyiv had issued no public statement confirming a refinery pause, the Journal reported. It said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters in Kyiv that troops had acted more cautiously in recent days, but he had given no order to avoid refinery targets. The Journal linked the reported slowdown to pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump, who has blamed Ukrainian refinery attacks for high fuel prices worldwide.
The Journal has described the refinery campaign as an effort to put pressure on oil revenues that help finance Russia’s invasion. In an Oct. 12 address, Zelensky said Ukraine was prepared to observe an energy ceasefire if Russia stopped attacking Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
Separately, Dnipropetrovsk regional police said a Russian drone attack on a commuter service at Dnipro station Thursday, Oct. 29, initially left 13 people dead and 10 injured. Police placed the attack at about 5 a.m. ET (09:00 UTC). Regional head Oleksandr Hanzha said Friday that the reported death toll had reached 15.
The Journal’s military sources expected the reported pause to continue past the U.S. midterm elections on Nov. 3 and possibly into later November.
