Trump Issues Graham Act Waiver as Russia Pounds Ukraine's Power Grid

President Donald Trump issued a Graham Act waiver in an executive order dated Oct. 16. The order sets aside the tariffs and most of the sanctions required by the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, according to the text published by the White House. The order came two days before the law's measures were due to take effect on Oct. 18.

Overnight into Saturday, Oct. 17, Russia launched hundreds of drones and several types of missiles at Ukraine, the country's Air Force said. In a post on Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote that "yesterday" Russia had carried out "one of their largest attacks on Ukraine's energy sector," targeting more than 15 power generation and transmission facilities. He tied the attacks to the waiver.

What the order does

The order says Trump signed the Graham Act into law on Sept. 18, 2026. The law is named for Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, who died on July 11.

The order formally raises duties on Russian goods by 500%. It also sets 100% duties on goods from the five largest importers of Russian crude oil and natural gas if they knowingly make new purchases on or after Oct. 18, and on goods from the top five facilitators of Russian oil sanctions evasion. Section 4 of the same order waives those duties.

Section 4 also waives the sanctions and restrictions in Graham Act sections 102(a), 102(d), 102(e), 103 through 111, and 117.

The order says sanctions under existing executive orders on Russia, tied to a national emergency Trump continued on March 24, 2026, are not affected. It sets no end date. The waivers stay in place until the president or the secretary of state, consulting the Treasury secretary and the U.S. Trade Representative as appropriate, "determine that further action is appropriate".

The Trade Representative must monitor Russian oil and gas purchases and sanctions evasion, and promptly inform the president of anything that might indicate the "need for further action by the President, including with respect to the waivers".

The rationale

"I have submitted to the Congress a certification that the issuance of such a waiver at this time is in the national interests of the United States," Trump wrote. The order says he also sent Congress a report explaining the basis. The law requires that report to be unclassified, though it may have a classified annex, and the White House has not publicly detailed its justification, RFE/RL reported.

China and India, among the biggest buyers of Russian oil, had raised concerns about the law, and India warned that new tariffs could affect bilateral ties, Reuters reported.

As of 12:58 p.m. ET Saturday, the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control and the Trade Representative's office had posted no guidance on the waiver, and the White House had issued no comment beyond the order.

Reaction

Kirill Dmitriev, Russian President Vladimir Putin's investment envoy, wrote on X that the suspension "marks an important and truly historic moment".

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., a co-author of the bill, wrote on X: "These waivers have nothing to do with our national security, & everything to do with sucking up to Vladimir Putin". Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., wrote: "The President is prolonging the war, not ending it".

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, said in a statement that by waiving the sanctions, Trump "is thumbing his nose at Congress's direction". Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., called the waiver "Trump's latest surrender to Putin" in a statement, Reuters reported.

Zelensky wrote that "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". "A U.S. sanctions blackout, easing pressure on the aggressor, financial rewards for Putin – all of this only encourages him to keep attacking," he added.

The overnight strike

Ukraine's Air Force said that from 6 p.m. Friday, Kyiv time, Russia launched 332 drones, 31 of them jet-powered, plus Iskander-M or KN-23 ballistic missiles, Kh-22 and Kh-32 cruise missiles and four Kalibr cruise missiles. It did not give a number for the ballistic or Kh-22/32 missiles. As of 8 a.m. Kyiv time, it said 293 targets had been downed or suppressed, including 289 drones and all four Kalibrs, with impacts at 22 locations. The figures are preliminary, and the Air Force had not posted an updated tally as of 12:58 p.m. ET.

Zelensky named Lutsk, Rivne, Zhytomyr, Vinnytsia, Shepetivka, Slavuta and Netishyn as the hardest-hit areas. "Russia is trying to cause a blackout in Ukraine – right before winter," he wrote.

Vinnytsia lost power, critical infrastructure switched to backup and electric public transport was suspended, Mayor Serhiy Morhunov said. Ukrinform reported the city was also without water. Six people were injured in the Vinnytsia region, Gov. Natalia Zabolotna said.

Ukraine's Energy Ministry said attacks overnight and Saturday morning hit energy facilities in 10 regions and that crews had restored power to more than half a million consumers. Grid operator Ukrenergo imposed emergency power cuts in several regions.

Russia's Defense Ministry said it struck an ArcelorMittal steel plant in Kryvyi Rih, a Zhytomyr substation, a Zaporizhzhia steel plant and a Black Sea cargo vessel, according to Reuters and AP. The ministry alleged the Kryvyi Rih plant supplies Ukraine's military-industrial complex and the vessel carried military cargo. Those allegations could not be independently verified.

Casualty counts

In Kherson, a Russian guided-bomb attack on Saturday morning killed an ambulance driver and injured 33 people, city military administration head Yaroslav Shanko said, according to the Kyiv Post. In Sloviansk, two bombs struck apartment buildings at 3:40 a.m., killing a 71-year-old woman and injuring 11, regional police said; five people were still being searched for under rubble. Ukraine's State Emergency Service later said one of its workers, Anatolii Hopka, 41, was killed in the strike on Sloviansk; rescuers recovered his body from the rubble of a partly destroyed apartment building, Interfax-Ukraine reported.

Regional authorities reported seven people killed and about 90 injured across Ukraine "over the past day," the Kyiv Independent reported. A separate count covers Russia's attacks on Friday, Oct. 16: at least eight killed and 60 injured, Al Jazeera reported, citing Ukrainian officials. Ukraine's Energy Ministry said power was restored to more than a million people who lost it Friday.

These counts cover different and overlapping periods, so they should not be added together.

Why it matters

The Graham Act's tariffs targeted the biggest buyers of Russian oil and gas. The order sets that pressure aside for now, while leaving earlier Russia sanctions in place and the option to act later.

It comes as Russia keeps striking Ukraine's power system with winter approaching. U.N. human rights monitors counted at least 328 civilians killed and 2,105 wounded in Ukraine in September, and 2,570 killed from January through September 2026, Al Jazeera reported.