Global News Edmonton has reported:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged supporters Saturday to speak out for new U.S. sanctions on Russia, hours after President Donald Trump signed an executive order pausing a sweeping package of restrictions on the Russian economy. The White House decision has renewed fears that Ukraine could be left exposed to escalating Russian attacks as winter approaches. Overnight strikes killed at least four people in Ukraine, including an ambulance driver, and wounded dozens, officials said.

In a social media statement, Zelenskyy called Trump’s decision to put the sanctions on hold unfortunate, while avoiding direct criticism of the U.S. president amid mounting tensions between Kyiv and Washington in recent days. “A decision was unfortunately made in America to completely disregard the Lindsey Graham Act, which was supposed to impose truly effective pressure on Russia to bring this war to an end,” Zelenskyy wrote.

Later Saturday, in audio clips responding to journalists’ questions, Zelenskyy thanked Democrats and Republicans who supported the legislation and praised its bipartisan backing. He said blocking it would encourage Russia to continue killing and would do nothing to end the war. He also said restricting Ukraine’s ability to retaliate against Russian attacks would not bring peace. “Nevertheless, we very much hope - and I personally hope - that the president of the United States of America will do everything possible to make Putin stop the killing, stop the attacks on our energy infrastructure, and end this war,” he said.

The legislation, named after the late South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham, was designed to more quickly restrict the financial resources supporting Russia’s 4 1/2-year-old war against Ukraine. It proposed sanctions on Russian officials and banks, as well as on a shadow fleet of tankers used to keep Russian energy moving. Trump signed the bill just last month, and his order pausing it came two days before a deadline set in the law for implementation.

Trump told Congress the pause was in the national interest but offered no further explanation. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a co-drafter of the bill, said Trump was turning his back on “the majority of Americans, their representatives in both houses of Congress, and our European allies.” Blumenthal added: “These waivers have nothing to do with our national security, and everything to do with sucking up to Vladimir Putin.”

Trump’s unexpected decision followed remarks a week earlier in which he said the United States had agreed to buy diesel from Russia in an effort to lower global energy prices. The proposed purchase could hurt Ukraine in its war with Russia. Trump said Russia would supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel immediately, with another 500,000 tons in November and 1 million tons “immediately thereafter.”

Republicans and Democrats alike have criticized the proposed diesel deal, saying it would help Russia carry out its war against Ukraine without reducing global fuel prices. Those prices are elevated mostly because of Trump’s war on Iran, according to the source report.

Zelenskyy said Saturday that Moscow had launched a massive strike against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, hitting more than 15 sites across the country. “The sheer scale and unrelenting pace of Russia’s strikes, specifically against our energy sector, are unfortunately having severe consequences,” he said.

Ukraine’s air force said Russian forces fired four cruise missiles and launched 332 attack drones overnight. Ukrainian forces suppressed or destroyed all four missiles and 289 of the drones, the air force said. Russian bombardments of Ukraine’s power grid before winter have been an annual feature of the war, aimed at weakening public support for the fighting by depriving civilians of heat and running water. Ukrainian officials have warned that Russia is stockpiling ballistic missiles for further attacks in the coming months.

In the Ukrainian city of Sloviansk, Russian attacks killed three people, said Vadym Liakh, head of the city military administration. Liakh wrote on social media that two apartment buildings were partly destroyed and other homes were damaged. In the Kherson region, a Russian strike using guided bombs killed an ambulance driver and wounded at least 33 other people, said Yaroslav Shanko, head of the local military administration.

In Russia, a Ukrainian drone attack killed a woman in the border region of Belgorod, local officials said. Russia’s Ministry of Defense said its forces shot down 610 Ukrainian drones overnight across 15 Russian regions, the annexed Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea and the Black Sea. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said more than 100 drones had been downed while heading toward the Russian capital.

More than 350 flights at Moscow’s airports were cancelled or delayed as aircraft were grounded in response to the incoming drones, local media reported. The Kremlin said Saturday that Russian President Vladimir Putin had approved a government program to help restore trade and logistics facilities damaged in drone attacks.