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Russia claims Ukraine is'multiplying energy attacks' despite a US-brokered ban

The Russian defence ministry stated on Saturday that Ukraine has increased its attacks against Russian energy infrastructure. It said 14 targets were hit in the last 24 hour despite an American-brokered ceasefire.

In a Telegram statement, the Ministry said that Ukraine "multiplied unilateral attacks on energy infrastructure in Russian regions using artillery and drones".

The Russian government said that the strikes caused damage to the regions of Bryansk (Russia), Belgorod (Russia), Smolensk (Russia), Lipetsk (Ukraine), and Kherson in Ukraine, which it controls.

I was not able to confirm the reports about the strikes.

Kyiv has not made an official statement on the Russian statements, but Ukraine’s military said that it stopped its strikes on Russian energy installations on March 18,

Last month, Russia and Ukraine agreed to the U.S. proposal of a moratorium for 30 days on attacking each other's infrastructure. Since then, both sides have accused each other repeatedly of breaking the agreement.

The deal was part a larger diplomatic push to end the conflict by U.S. president Donald Trump, since his return to power in January.

Separately, on Saturday the governor of Russia’s Volga River region Mordovia claimed that Ukrainian drones struck an industrial facility. According to media reports, the factory was located in Saransk, the capital of this region.

Local officials reported that a Russian airstrike on Kryvyi Rh, Ukraine, killed 19 people including nine children.

The Russian Defence Ministry claimed that it had targeted a military meeting in the city. This was a claim the Ukrainian military branded as disinformation. (Writing and Editing by Tomasz Janovski and Barbara Lewis).

(source: Reuters)