Trump Tells Kyiv To Stop Attacks On Russian Diesel As Moscow's Drones Strike Near Polish Border

This article was originally published in Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). Read the original article.

US President Donald Trump has called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to stop targeting Russian diesel infrastructure amid Russia's relentless attacks across Ukraine, including near the Polish border.

"There are plenty of other targets. Don't hit diesel fuel," Trump told reporters on September 13 during his visit to Ireland. "You have to stop knocking out diesel fuel in Russia," he said.

Trump's comment came a week after his envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, had visited Kyiv and Moscow in the latest US-mediated diplomatic effort to bring the wartime capitals closer to a negotiated agreement.

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While all sides have called the talks "substantial," the dynamics on the front line have not changed, with Russia continuing to attack Ukraine and hitting its civilian, logistics, and energy infrastructure as the cold weather sets in.

Ukraine, meanwhile, has continued to respond, targeting energy and military sites inside Russia with its long-range drone attacks. Kyiv has been calling the effort "long-range sanctions" as it seeks to curb Moscow's energy profits and force it to negotiate.

Since the beginning of the summer, Ukrainian drone strikes have caused nationwide fuel shortages in Russia and stoked discontent among its citizens, who were disconnected from the war in Ukraine, now in its fifth year.

Separately, Ukrzaliznytsia said that "quite possibly," the original target of the drone strike could have been the "diplomatic train," which carried top European officials, including former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. It added that former CIA Director David Petraeus was aboard another train at the time.

Petraeus told The New York Times that he could hear Russian drones above and then an explosion, leading to the immediate evacuation of passengers.

"For those who have not been under fire, this was terrifying...This is the act of a truly barbaric leader trying to terrorize Ukrainian civilians," Petraeus said.

As the incidents occurred, air-raid alerts were issued in several eastern districts of Poland.

While there were no reports of violations of Polish airspace, Jacek Goryszewski, spokesman for the Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces, said the "threat to Poland was real."

In separate incidents on September 13, Romanian authorities reported a drone entering the country, and Lithuania called on residents in the capital and neighboring regions to preventively seek shelter after issuing an alert of possible drone sighting.

The country's main airport in Vilnius was shut down and NATO jets were scrambled. The alert was called off within an hour.

"Russia's barbaric strikes at the Ukraine-Poland border in Yahodyn are not just a continuation of its attacks on our state borders," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha wrote on X on September 13. "This is Putin's terror 'knocking' directly on the doors of the EU and NATO."

He urged European leaders to "throw the full weight" of sanctions against Russia.

Earlier this month, Germany officially blamed an incident on Moscow in which explosive-laden drones interrupted flights at Leipzig Airport. At the time, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that "Europeans are faced with a hard truth that this is the new normal."

"It is precisely to prevent these strikes from spreading further into Europe that Ukrainian men and women fight every single day, laying down their lives to keep this aggression from expanding," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a post on Telegram on September 13.

"Russian terrorism is a shared threat to many, but it can and must be defeated right here in Ukraine," he added.

According to Zelenskyy, a total of 2,100 drones, 1,700 gliding bombs, and 73 missiles were launched at targets across Ukraine in the past week.

Ukrainian authorities said that elsewhere in Ukraine, the latest Russian attacks had also targeted the country's western regions of Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil, and Lviv, as well as the war-torn eastern Donetsk region and the key southern region of Odesa.

Regional authorities in the Odesa region said nine people had been injured after a drone struck several residential buildings. A warehouse in the region was also reportedly targeted.

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Meanwhile, in the region's capital city of Odesa, rescuers have completed work at the site of the drone strike on a 25-story residential building on the night of September 12. Two people were killed and more than 20 injured in that attack.

Russia's Defense Ministry claimed that its overnight strikes targeted "logistics centers through which military cargo is delivered and distributed, as well as energy facilities that support their operation."

The ministry also reported strikes on railway infrastructure in western Ukraine.

Russia denies targeting civilian areas despite widespread evidence of such attacks that have killed thousands of people since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Copyright (c)2025 RFE/RL, Inc. Used with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

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