Kyiv says its deep strikes are designed to drain the revenues sustaining Russia’s war machine. The leader of Ukraine’s liberal Voice party has defended Kyiv’s attacks on Russia’s oil infrastructure as an effort to weaken Moscow’s ability to finance the war, while accusing Russia of deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure. MP Kira Rudik told TVP World’s World Talks program that the strikes should not be seen as a “tit for tat” exchange. “Our strategy is to make them have no money to continue killing us,” she said, arguing that Kyiv was targeting facilities tied to Russia’s war effort. ‘A direct drone hit on the school’ Rudik also accused Russia of increasingly targeting schools and other civilian infrastructure. “Last week there was a direct drone hit on the school near where I live,” she said. “And thank God, just because everybody was underground in the safe place that nobody was damaged or killed.” She said the strike took place during the day and argued that attacks of this kind were no longer provoking the same international reaction they would have earlier in the war. “In 2022, that would definitely make the news and it would be considered as a war crime right now. It's just yet another day,” Rudik said. She also criticized what she described as the West’s excessive focus on avoiding escalation with Moscow. “I think the West has been concentrated on Putin's red lines for so long that it missed our red lines,” she said. Trump blames Ukraine for fuel costs Rudik rejected US President Donald Trump’s claim that Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries were helping drive up gasoline prices. “Obviously, this is not true because Ukraine has been attacking Russia's oil facilities since the moment we were able to do that, and it didn't trigger any of the changes in the oil price,” she said. Trump said Monday that Ukrainian refinery strikes, along with refinery closures in Democratic-led US states, were contributing to higher fuel prices. The war with Iran and disruption around the Strait of Hormuz have also tightened energy markets. Energy truce and Lukoil Rudik said Kyiv remained open to an unconditional ceasefire and an agreement ending attacks on energy infrastructure as winter approaches. “We need Russia to stop attacking our energy infrastructure,” she said, adding that she was cautiously optimistic about renewed negotiations because damage to Russian refineries could give Moscow an incentive to seek a pause. Washington is pushing for technical-level US-Ukraine-Russia talks before the end of October, potentially in the United Arab Emirates. Separate reports say the diplomatic track has also included discussion of a multibillion-dollar deal involving Lukoil assets. “But from our history with Russia, we know not to trust them,” Rudik said.
