 "President-elect Vladimir Putin arrives for his inauguration ceremony at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, on May 7, 2024. (Photo: Kremlin)")
In defiance of ongoing peace efforts, Russia launched the largest-ever drone attack on Ukraine just a day before talks between Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump.
Russia is also planning to test-launch an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on Monday evening, according to Ukrainian military intelligence agency HUR.
The developments come ahead of a scheduled call between Trump and Putin as part of the US-led efforts to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. Ahead of the call, while Russia has ramped up aggressions, Ukraine’s European partners have threatened Russia with sanctions.
Trump on Saturday said that he will hold talks with Putin over phone at 10 am ET (7:30 pm IST) on Monday and then call Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and leaders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato) countries. Ahead of these calls, European leaders —France’s Emmanuel Macron, UK’s Sir Keir Starmer, Germany’s Friedrich Merz, and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni— held joint talks with Trump and stressed that Putin needs to demonstrate the intent to make peace.
French President Macron said that Putin “must show he wants peace by accepting the 30-day unconditional ceasefire proposed by President Trump and backed by Ukraine and Europe”. British Prime Minister Starmer said that they “discussed the need for an unconditional ceasefire and for President Putin to take peace talks seriously”. He further said that they discussed the use of sanctions if Russia “failed to engage seriously in a ceasefire and peace talks”.
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Putin has so far rejected all three ceasefires that Trump has floated. On the other hand, Ukraine has accepted all three proposals — a 30-day overall ceasefire, ceasefire regarding the energy infrastructure, and ceasefire regarding the Black Sea. Yet Trump has not taken any punitive action regarding Russia whereas he and his allies have trashed Ukraine on a regular basis, often launching into falsehood-laden beratement .
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View AllRussia launches largest drone attack, teases ICBM test
In the overnight attack, Russia launched 273 drones at Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Donetsk regions, according to Ukraine’s air force.
Of these drones, the air force said 88 were shot down and 128 others vanished from radars, likely because they fell because of being jammed by electronic warfare means.
The New York Times reported that the drone attack was mainly directed at Ukraine’s capital Kyiv where the skies lit up with air defence systems.
The Times reported that at least one person, a 28-year-old woman, was killed and four people were injured in the attack, including a four-year-old child.
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While the impact of the barrage was relatively limited, it is part of Russia’s escalatory behaviour where it has been ramping up attacks on Ukraine even as Trump has been pushing for peace talks.
The Times has reported that it has become common to attack Ukraine with waves of more than 100 drones several times a week.
The previous record for most drones in a single attack was created on February 23 when Russia launched 263 drones.
Ukrainian military intelligence HUR has warned that Russia’s goal is to attack with waves of up to more than 500 drones on a regular basis.
Separately, HUR has said that Russia is set to test-launch RS-24 Yars ICBM on Monday evening — just hours after the Putin-Trump call.
The nuclear-capable ICBM will carry a non-nuclear training warhead for the purpose of the test, according to HUR.
The purpose of the test is to exert pressure on Ukraine and its European partners, as per HUR.