Russia hits Kharkiv plant after Trump’s energy ceasefire

U.S. President Donald Trump announced an “energy ceasefire” between Russia and Ukraine on Oct. 11, 2026, but Kyiv said it had no information about any deal and Russia struck Kharkiv’s CHP-5 power plant soon afterward.

The announcement came after a week in which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia carried out more than 200 strikes on electricity generation and transmission facilities and 17 on gas and oil facilities, killing more than 150 people and wounding more than 700. Those figures are Zelensky’s and have not been independently verified by Canada News Media.

Trump wrote on Truth Social: “Effective immediately, there is an ENERGY CEASEFIRE in the War between Russia and Ukraine. Both parties have agreed. Do not break it!” He gave no further terms, according to Euronews and the Kyiv Independent.

A senior Ukrainian official told the Kyiv Independent that Ukraine had no information about the ceasefire and doubted that Russia had been told of it. Zelensky told Axios it was “news for me.” He also said: “Please tell us when the ceasefire begins. We are ready, and we will accept it.”

Russia had not confirmed any agreement, Euronews reported. Igor Ananskikh, a first deputy chair of a Russian parliamentary committee, questioned the claim, saying: “We all know that Trump often says things to keep oil prices from rising,” the Kyiv Independent reported.

Zelensky said on Oct. 11 that there had been “just now, a strike on CHP-5 in Kharkiv,” according to the Kyiv Independent. Ukraine’s Presidential Office confirmed that the attack came after Trump’s announcement. Euronews also reported a drone strike on a power plant in Kyiv that caused outages in the capital. Ukrenergo, the national grid operator, announced emergency power cuts in several regions the same day, Euronews reported.

The Financial Times reported on Oct. 11, citing unnamed European officials, that U.S. officials had warned Kyiv in calls on Oct. 10 and 11 that Washington could suspend the Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List, a mechanism for buying U.S. weapons for Ukraine, and stop sharing intelligence unless Ukraine stopped hitting Russian energy sites. The White House declined to confirm or comment, the Kyiv Independent reported. Canada News Media has not seen the FT report itself.

Zelensky said Ukraine would stop attacking Russian oil only as part of an energy ceasefire, the Kyiv Independent reported. Euronews reported that Macron backed a “real energy ceasefire” as French diesel reached 2.25 euros a litre, and that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she supported Zelensky’s call for a ceasefire protecting energy infrastructure and global food supplies.

The announcement followed a separate dispute. Trump said on Oct. 10 that Ukraine needed a new leader, as we reported. Zelensky told ABC News that elections could be organized if Russia agreed to a 60-day total ceasefire. “Please tell Putin, give us two months, 60 days off. Total ceasefire, 60 days, and we will organize elections,” he said, as quoted by the Kyiv Independent. Ukrainian law bars elections while martial law, in place since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, remains in effect.

The Canadian connection is diplomatic. Zelensky said in a Telegram post that he had discussed the proposal with Prime Minister Mark Carney, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, and that Kyiv was “awaiting details from the American side,” according to the Kyiv Independent. Canada News Media found no statement from the Canadian government on the announcement itself.

The Kyiv Independent noted that this is not the first ceasefire Trump has announced between the two countries, and that none has produced a tangible agreement. Neither the Kremlin nor the White House had issued terms or a start time as of Oct. 12. This story is developing.

If you find reporting like this useful, consider supporting Canada News Media, an independent Canadian newsroom with no corporate parent.

Photo: File photo of Kyiv and the Dnipro River by Oleksii Tsaryuk via Unsplash. It does not show the strikes described. Via Euronews, the Kyiv Independent and the Financial Times as reported by the Kyiv Independent.