Zelenskyy Warns of Russian 'Massive Strike' Timed to U.S. Midterms, Urges Washington to Pressure Moscow

On Monday night, in his regular nightly address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told his country that Ukrainian intelligence points to a new Russian attack coming, and that the timing is deliberate. Tuesday is Election Day in the United States, and Zelenskyy said Moscow is betting the world will be looking at the American midterms rather than at Ukraine.

He said the attack would be massive and would go primarily after energy and logistics. In his words, the assumption in Moscow is that attention on the American vote will let the situation in Ukraine, including its difficulties with air defense and Patriot missiles, go overlooked. The midterms will decide which party controls Congress, an outcome that could also shape how Washington responds to Vladimir Putin's war, now almost five years old.

The warning came hours after a Russian strike on a school in Komyshuvakha, a settlement in the Zaporizhzhia region of southeastern Ukraine. The school was being used to distribute humanitarian aid. According to the Ukrainian outlet Ukrainska Pravda, at least 26 people were killed, among them police officers and first responders. Five others were injured, and some people remained missing.

In a post on X, Zelenskyy urged the Trump administration and U.S. allies to make clear to Putin that continued attacks will carry serious economic costs. He said the world must send Russia signals that terror brings no gains, and that while the war continues, Russian oil will burn and Moscow will not be able to earn money doing business with the world. He added that there should be no games with Russia's oil or gas revenues, and that pressure must leave Russia no alternative but to end the war. "America can do this," he said.

President Donald Trump has been pursuing a negotiated end to the war, working through special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, both of whom have taken part in diplomatic efforts with Moscow. In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, Zelenskyy offered a possible opening: Ukraine would suspend its strikes on Russian oil refineries for one month if Washington supplied Patriot interceptor missiles during that period. He suggested that could open the door to diplomacy.

On the supply side, Reuters reported that the State Department has approved the potential sale of 500 Patriot PAC-3 interceptors to Ukraine, at an estimated cost of $2.1 billion. If finalized, the sale could meaningfully strengthen Ukrainian air defenses, though no delivery timeline is certain.

A separate dispute surfaced Monday over Oleshky, in the southern Kherson region, where a U.S.-backed humanitarian ceasefire had paused fighting for six days. First lady Melania Trump said nearly 800 people were evacuated during that pause, and the White House clarified that she helped broker the arrangement. Ukraine's General Staff, however, accused Russian forces of using the lull to rotate troops, reinforce defenses and improve battlefield logistics. In a statement on X, it said Ukrainian units observed the ceasefire and acted only within the agreed framework, while the enemy used the pause to improve its positions.

What to watch now is whether the strike Zelenskyy describes materializes around Election Day, whether the Patriot sale moves from approval toward delivery, and whether Washington adds economic pressure on Russian oil revenues. The warning rests on Ukrainian intelligence that has not been independently detailed.