As Ukraine and Russia prepare for talks that would put in place a temporary halt on strikes on energy infrastructure, each side has continued to accuse the other of fresh attacks on the power grid, underscoring the deep mistrust between them.
Overnight into Friday, part of a major Russian gas station near the Ukrainian border was set ablaze in an attack that each country accused the other of launching. Unverified videos shared by Russian military bloggers showed a large fire at the station, which once pumped gas to Europe through Ukraine, with what appeared to be pipelines engulfed in flames.
Also on Friday, Russian authorities in the southwestern Krasnodar region reported a secondary explosion at a fuel depot that had been burning for two days after a Ukrainian drone attack. Russian officials said the fire had spread to more than 100,000 square feet.
Kyiv and Moscow agreed this week to a limited 30-day cease-fire on strikes against energy infrastructure — the first major step toward de-escalation in more than three years of war. The agreement followed calls between President Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, and Mr. Trump and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, to broker the partial cease-fire.
But the details of how and when this partial truce would take hold remain unresolved and are expected to be hammered out in U.S.-mediated talks in Saudi Arabia on Monday. Mr. Zelensky said his country would draw up a list of infrastructure facilities that could be covered by the cease-fire to avoid misunderstandings.
Strikes on energy facilities have been central to each side’s strategy to weaken the other throughout the war. Russia has pounded Ukraine’s power grid, aiming to make life unbearable for civilians and hinder the country’s war effort. Ukraine’s strikes on Russian facilities focus on crippling its vast oil industry, cutting off revenues that finance its military operations.
On Wednesday, the Ukrainian national railway said its power system had been attacked. The same day, Russia said Ukrainian drones attacked the fuel depot in the Krasnodar region. Neither claim could be independently verified.
Both sides have an interest in blaming the other for violating the cease-fire before it even begins, seeking to portray their opponent as untrustworthy. Against that backdrop, Friday’s attack on the Russian gas station fit neatly into this propaganda war.
The gas station sits just across the border from Ukraine, near the town of Sudzha, in territory that Ukrainian forces seized during their incursion into Russia’s western Kursk region last summer. But recent Russian advances have pushed back Ukrainian troops in the area from all but a sliver of land, and it was unclear whether they still controlled the station as of Friday.
The Russian defense ministry said Ukraine had “deliberately” blown up the Sudzha gas metering station as its military retreated from the area. It called the attack “a deliberate provocation” designed to “discredit the peace initiatives of the U.S. president.”
The Ukrainian Army, though, suggested the explosion was a Russian “false flag” operation designed to put the blame on Ukraine. It said Russia had “repeatedly shelled” the station in the past as it counterattacked Ukrainian troops in the area.
“Russians continue to create numerous fakes and seek to mislead the international community,” the army said in a Facebook post.
Until recently, the station was the sole transit point for Russian gas to the European Union through Ukraine. It ceased operations on Jan. 1, after Ukraine refused to renew the transit agreement, part of a broader push by Kyiv and its allies to reduce reliance on Russian energy.
That means Friday’s attack on the station will not immediately affect Russian gas exports. But if the damage is severe, it could have long-term consequences and hinder a potential resumption of exports after the war.
Damien Ernst, an energy expert and professor at the University of Liège in Belgium, said videos of the aftermath of the attack suggested that some equipment, including pipelines, had been hit, in what he described as “significant” damage that could take several months to repair.
Ivan Nechepurenko contributed reporting.
