Russia launched a sweeping drone assault across Ukraine overnight into Sunday, targeting multiple regions, officials said, after US President Donald Trump cast doubt over Russian President Vladimir Putinโs willingness to end the war.
One person was killed and a 14-year-old girl wounded in the city of Pavlohrad in the Dnipropetrovsk region, which was hit for the third consecutive night, regional Governor Serhii Lysak said.
The attacks came hours after Russia claimed to have regained control over the remaining parts of the Kursk region, which Ukrainian forces seized in a surprise incursion last August. Ukrainian officials said the fighting in Kursk was still ongoing.
Trump said on Saturday that he doubts Putin wants to end the more than three-year war in Ukraine, expressing new scepticism that a peace deal can be reached soon. Only a day earlier, Trump had said Ukraine and Russia were โvery close to a deal.โ
โThere was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days,โ Trump wrote in a social media post as he flew back to the United States after attending Pope Francisโ funeral at the Vatican, where he met briefly with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Trump also hinted at further sanctions against Russia.
The Trump-Zelensky conversation on the sidelines of the popeโs funeral was the first face-to-face encounter between the two leaders since they argued during a heated Oval Office meeting at the White House in late February.