Zelenskyy urges support for new U.S. sanctions on Russia hours after Trump paused them

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged supporters on Saturday to speak out in defence of new U.S. sanctions against Russia, hours after U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order pausing a sweeping package of restrictions targeting the Russian economy.

The White House’s decision has further raised fears that Ukraine could be left exposed to Moscow's escalating assaults with winter approaching.

Zelenskyy described Trump's move to put sanctions on hold as unfortunate, but he did not directly criticize the U.S. leader. Tensions between Ukraine and Washington have deepened in recent days.

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"A decision was unfortunately made in America to completely disregard the Lindsey Graham Act, which was supposed to impose truly effective pressure on Russia to bring this war to an end," Zelenskyy wrote on social media platform X.

He also expressed hope that the new sanctions could be revived. "This Act could have helped enormously — and still can! But it needs to actually work, and every voice in support of it matters," he said.

Zelenskyy also said on Saturday that Moscow had carried out a massive strike on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, targeting more than 15 sites across the country.

"The sheer scale and unrelenting pace of Russia's strikes, specifically against our energy sector, are unfortunately having severe consequences," he said.

Ukraine's air force said that Russian forces launched four cruise missiles and 332 attack drones overnight. All of the missiles and 289 of the drones had been suppressed or destroyed, it said.

Russia's heavy bombardment of the power grid ahead of winter has been an annual feature of the nearly five-year-old war, aimed at wearing down Ukraine's appetite for the fight by denying civilians heat and running water. Ukrainian officials have warned that Russia is stockpiling ballistic missiles for more attacks in the coming months.

The Russian Defence Ministry said on Saturday its forces had taken control of eight more Ukrainian settlements, including the town of Dobropillia in eastern Donetsk region, news agency Interfax reported.

The town, southwest of the key centres of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, has been under sustained Russian attack for some time. But Ukraine's General Staff denied Russia's claim and said on Saturday that Ukrainian forces remained in control of the eastern town of Dobropillia.

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In an emailed statement, General Staff spokesperson Andriy Kovaliov said Ukraine also rejected Russia's claim that Russian forces had captured more than 1,800 square kilometres of Ukrainian territory and 92 settlements since Sept. 1.