President Volodymyr Zelensky says Ukraine has been hit by the biggest air attack ever from Russia – 728 drones and 13 cruises or ballistic missiles have hit cities around the country with multiple waves.
Zelensky condemned “communicating the attack,” adding, “it comes exactly at a time when so many efforts have been made to achieve peace and establish a ceasefire, but only Russia continues to reject them all.”
President Donald Trump said the overnight strike was a reversal of last week’s suspension after the US said it would send more weapons to Kiev, and US media said Trump didn’t know.
On Tuesday, the US leader expressed growing dissatisfaction with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“If we want to know the truth, we’re throwing a lot of bullshit on Putin,” Trump told reporters. “He’s always been very kind to us, but it turned out to be pointless.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow is “slowly calm about this. Trump’s way of talking is generally very strict, a phrase he uses.”
The two leaders have been in touch regularly, but so far, this has failed to translate into a concrete step towards a ceasefire in Ukraine. Trump once said he could achieve it in just one day.
After a call with the Russian president last week, Trump said he was “very unhappy.”
“He wants to go all the time, just keep killing people, that’s not good,” Trump said of Putin.
Criticism came even when the Trump administration announced a suspension of military aid to Ukraine.
Asked by a reporter on Tuesday, Trump sat right next to Heggs – “I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me?”
According to US outlet Axios, a reversal of the decision could mean that 10 patriot missiles could be sent to Ukraine.
Kyiv relies on interceptors to try to counter Russian missile and drone attacks, which continues to grow in strength and frequency.
On Tuesday, Trump also said he was “seeing” a sanctions bill by Republican Sen. Sen. Lindsey Graham, which places 500% tariffs on countries that trade with Russia.
Since taking office in January, Trump has threatened sanctions against Russia, but has so far not been imposed. In June, he noted that the sanctions were “a huge cost,” signaling that they were waiting to see if a deal between Russia and Ukraine would be signed instead.
However, last week, the US president said he and Putin had a “many” discussion about sanctions, adding that “he understands that might come.”
The east of the country and Kiev are regularly attacked, but the corner of Ukraine has not spared due to Russian strikes.
Located 90 km (56 miles) from the Polish border and a transport hub for military and humanitarian aid, Lutsk city was born into the brunt of an overnight attack on Tuesday.
The explosion was also reported in western cities of LVIV and Rivne.
Russian authorities say a Ukrainian drone attack on the border area of Kursk killed three people and injured seven on Tuesday.
The two-round ceasefire talks between Russia and Ukraine took place earlier this year, but no other meetings have been scheduled so far. Neither Moscow nor Kiev are optimistic that diplomacy will resolve the conflict caused by a full-scale Russian invasion in Ukraine in February 2022.
Meanwhile, Russian summer attacks in eastern Ukraine are shattered.
“We’re moving forward,” Peskov said Wednesday. “Every new day when Ukrainians must embrace a new reality.”
