As Trump emboldens Putin again, Russia hits Ukraine with largest air attack

Days after US President Donald Trump emboldened Russia again by stopping the supply of weapons to Ukraine , Russia launched the largest aerial attack of the war so far with 550 missiles and drones. Kyiv’s skyline erupted in fireballs and clouds of smoke as Russian projectiles hammered the city.

The Russian barrage came hours after Trump spoke to Russian leader Vladimir Putin on phone. Trump said that they "didn’t make any progress" about ending the conflict over the call. However, Putin certainly got the message that he was free to attack Ukraine at will.

The overnight barrage followed a monthslong pattern: Trump first cuts supplies to Ukraine that have already been approved and trashes Ukraine. Then Putin launches massive attacks on Ukraine and gains leverage on the battlefield as a result of Trump depriving Ukraine of even defensive weapons.

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The Kremlin’s readout demonstrated how emboldened Russia stood after getting a shot in the arm from Trump. It said that “Russia will not back down” unless “root causes” were eliminated.

‘Root causes’ is a euphemism for Putin's maximalist demands , such as the recognition of all Ukrainian provinces in their entirety that Russia has annexed and other territories that it controls; the ouster of Volodymyr Zelenskyy as the President of Ukraine and the ouster of his administration; amendment of the Ukrainian constitution to put limits on its military in a Versailles-like treaty, include Russian in the nation’s cultural affairs, and rule out its membership of Nato; put limits on foreign military partnerships of Ukraine; etc. The implementation of such terms would mean the end of Ukraine as a sovereign nation.

Russia makes most of Trump’s decision — again

For months, Russia has attacked Ukraine with hundreds of missiles and drones on a near-daily basis and Ukraine has sought to buy US-made air defence systems.

Earlier this week, instead of clearing such sales, the Trump administration blocked the supply of air defence systems and other weapons that had already been cleared. Trump trashed Ukraine on Thursday and said “We’ve given so many weapons” to Ukraine.

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Russia was quick to grasp the message and respond by ramping up the aerial campaign. Ukraine said Russia launched 539 drones and 11 ballistic missiles overnight in the largest aerial attack of the war.

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Earlier this year, when Trump suspended military and intelligence assistance to Ukraine after ambushing Zelenskyy at the White House, Russia had responded with a renewed counter-offensive in Kursk region and driving out Ukrainian forces from there. Ukraine’s incursion of Kursk was a significant achievement and its occupation of the region was seen as a critical leverage in negotiations where Kursk could be exchanged in lieu of Russia-occupied Ukrainian territory.

Thanks to Trump, however, Ukraine lost that leverage as Russia retook nearly all of Kursk from Ukraine after making the most of the suspension of intelligence-sharing and military supplies.

In the overnight attack, Zelenskyy said that at least 23 people were injured. Russia has largely targeted civilians and critical infrastructure in its escalating attacks.

A United Nations (UN) report this month said that Ukrainian civilian casualties in Russian airstrikes rose by 50 per cent between January and June.

Trump expected to speak to Zelenskyy today

After a call with Russia, Trump is expected to speak to Zelenskyy on Friday.

If his past behaviour is any guide, Trump would likely push Zelenskyy to accept Putin’s terms and wrap the conflict irrespective of the consequences for his nation.

On his part, Zelenskyy would likely call for the resumption of military supplies and reiterate the call for the purchase of Patriot air defence systems. He would also likely press Trump to toughen up on Putin.

Even as Trump has expressed dissatisfaction with Putin, he has not done anything to put pressure on him. Instead, he has rewarded Putin at every step by accepting his terms and punishing Ukraine — the defender. He has neither imposed new sanctions on Russia nor ramp up military supplies to Ukraine as he had threatened in the past. Instead, he has slammed Zelenskyy as a warmonger over request to buy air defence systems.