Zelensky: Ukraine will step up strikes on Russian oil refineries over Putin’s ‘new doctrine’

What the president said

President Volodymyr Zelensky told Reuters — as reported by Ukrinform — that Ukraine will intensify strikes on Russian oil refineries. The reason, he said, is Moscow’s shift to massive attacks on civilian infrastructure ahead of winter.

Ukrainian intelligence, according to Zelensky, obtained documents showing Vladimir Putin issued a “new doctrine” allowing a much broader set of civilian targets. “We saw documents and we know that they allow them to attack infrastructure … logistics … roads, schools, hospitals, to pressure people to leave the capital, leave different cities. This is the goal of the operation,” he said.

Why refineries

Zelensky stressed that Ukraine will respond but will not mirror indiscriminate strikes on civilians. “With their attacks on our energy, we have to respond on their energy. First of all, oil refiners: what gives money to them for this war,” Ukrinform quotes him. “But we will not respond, of course, just like them, on any civilian objects.”

The Guardian’s 3–4 October briefing carries the same line: Kyiv will increase attacks on Russian refineries without targeting civilians.

A week under fire in the capital

Over the past week Kyiv faced persistent drone and missile attacks on energy and telecoms assets and on road and rail infrastructure. Ukrinform and Reuters note that Russia for the first time targeted bridges across the Dnipro linking the city’s banks.

Zelensky linked the policy shift to Putin’s desire to appear strong while Russian forces lose ground on a key front and take higher casualties.

Moscow’s response and diplomacy

The Kremlin did not comment to Reuters on Saturday. In a statement urging foreigners to leave Kyiv, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Moscow would continue systematic strikes, framing them as retaliation for Ukrainian attacks.

After the Trump administration invited Putin to a December G20 summit in Miami, Zelensky urged Washington not to normalise relations with Russia before peace is restored. He said he would be happy to meet Putin at the G20 but warned against “illusions” that Russia would stop fighting if it gained control of Donbas.

Why it matters

The interview sets out Kyiv’s official answer to escalating strikes on civilian infrastructure: pressure the war’s financial base via refineries without copying attacks on schools, hospitals or homes. Winter is again becoming a season of energy warfare.