Russian authorities today accused Ukraine of targeting and damaging energy infrastructure, a violation of a fragile agreement announced by Washington last week that is supposed to ban attacks on such facilities.
After several days of separate negotiations with the Ukrainians and the Russians, the US administration issued two separate statements last week proposing a moratorium on the bombing of energy facilities, on both sides.
But no specific date or conditions were mentioned, while Russia and Ukraine have since accused each other of violating the agreement.
"The continuation of deliberate attacks by Ukrainian armed forces on Russian energy facilities demonstrates the Kiev regime's complete lack of commitment to honoring its obligations to resolve the conflict," the Russian Defense Ministry said today.
The ministry accused Ukrainian forces of damaging two energy facilities on Sunday evening, leading to the disconnection of two high-voltage lines in the border region of Bryansk and causing a power outage.
Before last week's announcement from Washington, Russian President Vladimir Putin had already announced an immediate 30-day moratorium on attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure on March 18, after a phone call with Donald Trump.
The Russian president then rejected the American proposal for an unconditional one-month ceasefire, and Kiev accepted this ceasefire under pressure from the American administration.
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