Putin says Russia responding to Ukrainian attacks on energy, e-commerce sites

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow was responding to Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy infrastructure and e-commerce platforms.

Speaking via video link at a meeting of the Business Russia forum on Thursday, Putin said Russia had responded to attacks on Wildberries and Ozon, accusing Ukraine of seeking Western support to pressure Moscow into halting its retaliatory strikes.

“They took the first step, and we began to respond. Now they are complaining about strikes on other types of facilities, including energy infrastructure and data centers. They started it. They shouldn’t have. They should have thought carefully about the consequences before taking that step,” he said.

Putin said Ukraine had continued targeting Russian energy infrastructure, adding that strikes on several oil refineries were attempted Wednesday. Some facilities were hit, but the damage was not significant, he said.

On Wednesday, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Ukraine had attacked oil refineries in the Saratov and Ryazan regions.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Ukraine's attacks on Russian oil refineries contradicted US peace initiatives.

On Sunday, Trump announced on his Truth Social media platform that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to an immediate ceasefire on attacks targeting each other's energy infrastructure.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv was prepared to halt strikes on Russian oil refineries if Moscow stopped attacking Ukraine's energy infrastructure, stressing that any de-escalation must be reciprocal and backed by guarantees.

Meanwhile, Peskov said contacts with the US on the proposed energy truce were ongoing.