Russia Claims 9,000 Ukrainian Attacks As Zelenskyy Pushes India To Cut Russian Oil Trade

Russia and Ukraine exchanged fresh strikes on Wednesday, with seven people injured across Ukraine in overnight Russian attacks, while Moscow accused Kyiv of carrying out nearly 9,000 attacks on Russian territory in a single week.

Russian drones struck businesses, warehouses and other facilities in Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Zaporizhzhia and Odesa. Russia’s Defence Ministry said it carried out “group strikes” against military industrial and energy facilities, logistics centres and maritime vessels.

In Kyiv, three people were injured. A warehouse in Holosiivskyi district was damaged and caught fire, while a fuel station and office building were also hit. Drone debris fell in the Solomianskyi and Darnytskyi districts, damaging another gas station.

Two people were injured in an attack on a business in Zhytomyr region, while two men aged 37 and 39 were injured in Zaporizhzhia after a strike sparked a fire at a shopping centre. The blaze spread across about 6,000 square metres before being controlled. In Odesa, strikes hit warehouses and caused a large fire, with repeated air raid alerts complicating firefighting.

Moscow said three logistics centres storing military and dual use goods were struck in Odesa, along with a facility storing drone components. Russia also claimed a bulk carrier transporting military supplies to Odesa was hit at sea.

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Ministry Ambassador at Large Rodion Miroshnik said Ukraine had carried out nearly 9,000 attacks over the previous week, including during Russia’s State Duma elections, averaging 1,250 to 1,270 attacks a day. He accused Kyiv of targeting civilians to disrupt voting. Ukraine has rejected Russia’s accusations. Moscow’s figure has not been independently verified.

Ukraine has also continued targeting Russia’s energy sector. Kyiv’s General Staff said strikes had knocked out more than 45 per cent of Russia’s oil refining capacity, a figure that represents a Ukrainian military assessment.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has separately urged India, China and Turkey to stop buying Russian oil, arguing that the revenue helps Moscow sustain the war. Speaking to the Wall Street Journal on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Zelenskyy said, “Russia is basing its economy on India, sometimes Turkey and China,” adding that if they stopped energy trade with Russia, Moscow would have to stop fighting.

India and China have become major buyers of Russian crude after Western sanctions redirected Moscow’s energy trade towards Asia. Reuters reported that India’s Russian oil imports fell 16.5 per cent in August to about 2.1 million barrels per day, with preliminary September data indicating around 1.9 million barrels per day.

US President Donald Trump has also gained authority to impose tariffs of up to 100 per cent on countries buying Russian oil and gas. India has maintained that its energy imports are guided by economic and energy security needs.

At the UN, Zelenskyy said Kyiv was ready for an “energy ceasefire”, under which both sides would stop attacking energy infrastructure. He also wants a trilateral meeting with Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump said he believed a deal could be reached, but Putin is not attending this year’s UN General Assembly.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte meanwhile warned that the alliance would defend “every inch of allied territory” if necessary. With winter approaching, battlefield strikes, attacks on energy infrastructure and diplomatic efforts are unfolding simultaneously.