


Russia attacked Ukrainian energy facilities with dozens of missiles and drones during the night, officials said Friday, hobbling the country’s ability to deliver heat and light to its citizens and to power weapons factories vital to its defenses.
The overnight barrage — which also pounded residences and wounded at least 10 people — came days after the U.S. suspended military aid and intelligence to Ukraine to pressure it into accepting a peace deal being pushed by the Trump administration. Without U.S. intelligence, Ukraine’s ability to strike inside Russia and defend itself from bombardment is significantly diminished.
The U.S. government said Friday it halted Ukrainian access to unclassified satellite images that had been used to help it fight back against Russia.
The U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency told The Associated Press the decision reflected “the Administration’s directive on support to Ukraine,” without elaborating. The satellite imagery provider Maxar Technologies confirmed the U.S. government decision to “temporarily suspend” Ukrainian access.
Air-defense systems supplied by the West are crucial for Ukraine, but further U.S. help is uncertain under President Donald Trump, who held a tempestuous — and televised — White House meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week in which he questioned Ukraine’s determination to end the war. Zelenskyy has since said the blowup with the Trump administration was “regrettable.”
European Union leaders, mindful they may need to shoulder more of the burden for arming Ukraine and strengthen their own defenses, agreed on a plan Thursday to significantly build up their military spending.
Ukraine is having a tough time on the battlefield. An onslaught by Russia’s bigger army is straining short-handed Ukrainian forces at places along the 600-mile front line.
Officials from the U.S. and Ukraine will meet in Saudi Arabia next week to discuss ending the war, which began more than three years ago when Russia launched a full-scale invasion. On Friday, President Trump said on social media he was “strongly considering” additional sanctions on Russia to force it into peace talks with Ukraine.
Later, when asked by a reporter during an Oval Office exchange if Russian President Vladimir Putin was taking advantage of the U.S. pause on intelligence-sharing to attack Ukraine, Trump responded: “I think he’s doing what anybody else would.”
Ukraine’s energy minister, Herman Halushchenko, described the overnight attack on Facebook as “massive.”
“Russia is trying to hurt ordinary Ukrainians by striking energy and gas production facilities, without abandoning its goal of leaving us without light and heat, and causing the greatest harm to ordinary citizens,” Halushchenko wrote.
Russia has repeatedly targeted Ukraine’s power grid during the war. The attacks have depleted electricity generation capacity and disrupted critical heating and water supplies. Ukrainian officials have accused Russia of “weaponizing winter” in an effort to erode civilian morale.