Following the U.S.-Russia agreement on March 18, 2025, to pause strikes on energy infrastructure between Russia and Ukraine for 30 days, reports indicate that both sides continued attacks in the days that followed, undermining the ceasefire’s enforcement. Here are specific examples of continued strikes based on available information up to March 26, 2025:
March 18, 2025 (Hours After Agreement)
Russian Strike on Sloviansk, Ukraine: Within hours of the Trump-Putin call, a Russian aerial bomb or drone struck energy infrastructure in Sloviansk, Donetsk region. This attack, reported by Ukrainian sources and journalists like Tsaplienko, cut power to half the city. Posts on X and news outlets like Kyiv Post noted this occurred less than an hour after the ceasefire was agreed upon, highlighting immediate non-compliance.
March 18-19, 2025 (Overnight)
Russian Drone Attacks Across Ukraine: Late on March 18 into early March 19, Russia launched over 40 drones targeting multiple Ukrainian regions, including Kyiv, Sumy, Odesa, Poltava, Dnipropetrovsk, and Chernihiv. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reported strikes on civilian infrastructure, including a hospital in Sumy and the power grid in Sloviansk. Kyiv Post and Reuters confirmed explosions in Kyiv and damage to railway power systems in Dnipropetrovsk, suggesting energy-related targets were hit despite the agreement.
March 19, 2025
Russian Strikes on Odesa and Other Areas: The Guardian reported that Russian drones pounded Odesa overnight, hitting a high-rise residential building, a shopping center, and unspecified infrastructure targets. While not explicitly labeled as energy sites, the broad scope of “infrastructure” attacks raises questions about adherence to the ceasefire. Separately, Moscow accused Ukraine of striking an oil depot in southern Russia, though this predated Zelensky’s formal agreement to the truce later that day.
March 20-21, 2025
Russian Drone Strikes on Odesa: The Guardian noted continued waves of Russian drones targeting Odesa, with regional governor Oleh Kiper reporting damage to infrastructure during a visit by the Czech president. The Kremlin clarified on March 21 that the ceasefire only covered “energy infrastructure,” not broader targets, implying these strikes might not violate their interpretation—though Ukraine contested this narrow definition.
March 25, 2025
Russian Claims of Ukrainian Strikes: Russia accused Ukraine of launching three attacks on civilian energy infrastructure, including Rosseti power lines, a gas station in Svatovo, and gas storage in Crimea, during ceasefire talks in Saudi Arabia. Posts on X from @MarioNawfal
echoed these claims, though independent verification is lacking as of March 26. Conversely, Reuters reported ongoing Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities, with both sides pointing fingers but providing few specifics for this date.
These examples illustrate a pattern of continued strikes post-agreement, with both Russia and Ukraine reportedly targeting energy and infrastructure sites. The lack of trust and differing interpretations—Russia limiting the ceasefire to “energy” while the U.S. and Ukraine envisioned broader coverage—contributed to the breakdowns. Reports from Reuters, The New York Times, and X posts align on the persistence of attacks through at least March 25, though exact details on every incident remain murky due to the fluid situation and limited real-time data beyond March 26, 2025.
