 "After Trump-Putin call, Russia rains missiles & drones on Kyiv, kills 4")
Days after Vladimir Putin vowed to respond to Ukraine’s Operation Spider Web in a call with US President Donald Trump, Russia on the intervening night of Thursday and Friday attacked Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities with missiles and drones.
Ukrainian authorities said at least four people have been killed in Kyiv and 20 have been injured.
As Russia had been attacking Ukraine with hundreds of missiles and drones on a near-daily basis for weeks before Ukraine’s drone operation, it is not yet clear if the overnight barrage was part of such nightly attack or was a response to the drone operation that Putin referred.
On Sunday, Ukraine attacked five airbases across the length and breadth of Russia with drones under Operation Spider Web. With 117 drones, Ukraine said it destroyed nearly a third of Russia’s long-range, nuclear-capable bomber and surveillance aircraft’s fleets.
ALSO READ: Operation Spider Web hands Ukraine ‘cards’ to play with at negotiation table
After a phone call on Wednesday, Trump said that Putin told him he would respond “very strongly” to Ukraine’s attack.
Other than Kyiv, Russia also struck the city of Lutsk near the Ukraine’s border with Poland and injured 12 people, according to Ukrainian state media.
Russia hits civilian areas in Kyiv, says Ukraine
Ukrainian officials have said that Russia struck civilian areas in Kyiv and elsewhere.
Kyiv’s military administration head Timur Tkachenko said that Russia struck a 16-storey apartment building in the capital’s area. Mayor Vitali Klitschko also said that fires were reported fires in Holosiivskyi and Darnytskyi areas of the capital after Russian strikes.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsBy 2 am, it had been reported that two Russian long-range bombers were involved in the attack. Kyiv Post reported analysts as saying that the unusually low number of aircraft appeared to be the result of Ukraine destroying nearly a third of Russia’s bombers’ fleet.
Beside bombers, Russia also used a Kalibr cruise missile from its Black Sea fleet, according to the newspaper.
ALSO READ: With Russia’s terms to Ukraine, Putin seeks surrender — not a peace deal
Even though Ukraine and Russia have started direct talks in Turkey, no ceasefire is in sight. So far, Russia has rejected all three US-endorsed offers of ceasefire whereas Ukraine has accepted all of them. Yet Trump has not yet taken any action on Russia. Instead, he has continued to build pressure on Ukraine.
In the latest instance of ignoring Russian attacks and pressuring Ukraine , Trump on Thursday said that he was considering imposing sanctions on Ukraine and Russia both for stopping the war — even though Ukraine is the defender.
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