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Trump calls Ukraine refinery attacks 'disgraceful'

Former US president claims strikes are raising global oil prices and criticises Ukrainian leadership.

AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made

Published Updated
Zelenskyi ja Trump keskustelivat New Yorkissa 22. syyskuuta YK:n yleiskokouksen aikana. Kuva: Brendan Smialowski / AFP

What this story says

  • Donald Trump called Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries "disgraceful" in a Newsmax interview.
  • Trump claimed these strikes are increasing global oil prices.
  • Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky resumed attacks on Russian refineries after a three-day pause.
  • Trump also criticised President Zelensky's willingness to negotiate and called for elections in Ukraine.

Who covered it

Left 16%(3)Centre 16%(3)Right 68%(13)

Percentages are shares of the 19 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 14 of the 33 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .

Trust

62/100

Craft

87/100

Hype

25/100

33 sources · methodology

Thin on the left so far

Only 3 of the 19 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated left.

This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.

Donald Trump has described Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries as "disgraceful". The former US president made the comments in an interview with Newsmax, stating that these strikes are raising global oil prices. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky decided to resume attacks on Russian refineries on Thursday, following a three-day pause. Zelensky had initially halted strikes on Russian energy targets to comply with Trump's wishes. However, Russia continued its own attacks on Ukrainian energy production during this period.

Disagreement on Zelensky's pause

Yle reports that President Zelensky paused attacks on Russian energy facilities to comply with Trump's wishes. Yle also states that Zelensky told The Financial Times that stopping energy strikes would encourage the US and Russia to make more energy deals. Other reports do not mention Zelensky's stated reasons for the pause or his comments to The Financial Times.

What the coverage left out

None of the right-rated digests mention that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told The Financial Times that stopping energy strikes would encourage the US and Russia to make more energy deals. The right-rated digests also do not mention that Russia continued its own attacks on Ukrainian energy production during the three-day pause in Ukrainian strikes.

Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 3 times, most recently on 16 Oct 2026, 03:15, and will add the sides that appear.

How each side covered it

Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.

Left

3 rated outlets

  • All three left‑rated outlets reported Trump’s Newsmax interview where he described the renewed strikes on Russian oil refineries as disgraceful and said Zelensky is harder to handle than Putin. Kyiv Post led on the interview, Le Monde’s digest repeated the same remarks, and fakti.bg’s digest echoed them.
  • Kyiv Post added analyst commentary that the primary driver of the global price surge is the US‑Israel war with Iran, not the refinery attacks. It also noted Zelensky’s statement that the pause on attacks had ended and his call for a reciprocal energy ceasefire, linking the issue to broader NATO discussions.
  • The digests from Le Monde and fakti.bg did not contain the analyst view or Zelensky’s comments that appear in Kyiv Post’s full report. None of the three left outlets mentioned any cost estimate for the strikes or presented a Russian perspective on the attacks.

Centre

3 rated outlets

  • The centre-rated report from Yle led with Donald Trump calling Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries "disgraceful". It included Trump's claim that these strikes are harmful because they affect the production of diesel fuel needed by the US and the world. Yle's report also detailed that President Zelensky decided to resume refinery attacks after a three-day pause, stating that Zelensky had initially halted strikes to follow Trump's wishes. The report quoted Trump criticising Zelensky, saying it is difficult to cooperate with him and that he does not want to reach an agreement. Yle also reported Trump's view that Russia's larger population gave it a military advantage over Ukraine and that Ukraine should hold elections.

Right

13 rated outlets

  • The right-rated reports focused on Donald Trump's criticism of Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil facilities and his claims about rising oil prices. Several digests noted Trump's statement that these attacks are "disgraceful" or a "disgrace". The right-rated reports also highlighted Trump's assertion that Ukraine's President Zelensky is provoking a rise in oil prices and questioned Zelensky's willingness to end the war. Some reports mentioned Trump calling for elections in Ukraine.

Questions about this coverage

How did the left and right cover Trump calls Ukraine refinery attacks 'disgraceful'?
Of the 19 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 16% are rated left, 16% are rated centre, 68% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 33. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
Is Trump calls Ukraine refinery attacks 'disgraceful' left or right?
Neither side dominates it. Of the 19 rated outlets on this story, 16% are rated left, 16% are rated centre, 68% are rated right, and no side holds the 70% this site would want before calling a field one-sided. A story is not left or right in any case; the outlets that carried it are what carry ratings.
Is the coverage of Trump calls Ukraine refinery attacks 'disgraceful' biased?
Trump calls Ukraine refinery attacks 'disgraceful' is one event reported by 33 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
Which side is not reporting Trump calls Ukraine refinery attacks 'disgraceful'?
When we first saw this story, outlets rated left had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
Which outlets covered Trump calls Ukraine refinery attacks 'disgraceful'?
33 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
What did Donald Trump say about Ukraine's attacks on Russian oil refineries?
Donald Trump described the Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries as "disgraceful" in a Newsmax interview. He claimed these strikes are raising global oil prices and are harmful because they affect diesel fuel production.
Did Ukraine pause its attacks on Russian refineries?
Yes, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky decided to resume attacks on Russian refineries after a three-day pause. He had initially halted these strikes to comply with Donald Trump's wishes.
What else did Donald Trump say about Ukraine?
Donald Trump also criticised Ukrainian President Zelensky, stating it is difficult to cooperate with him and that he does not want to reach an agreement. Trump also suggested that Ukraine should hold elections.

Read it at the source

33 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.

Left

3

Centre

3

Right

13
Show 5 more

Not rated

14
Show 6 more

How did this read?

About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.

Trump on Ukraine refinery attacks | MediaBias News