Russia intensified its brutal bombing of Ukraine- hours after Donald Trump’s special envoy met with Vladimir Putin. The attack also comes after the US President suggested he could meet with the Kremlin boss as early as next week.
Putin’s forces launched a massive aerial assault on a key bridge in Kherson, but failed to destroy it. The Ukrainian city has come under repeated attack by the Kremlin’s army, since it was liberated in November 2022. Russian military bloggers claim sabotage groups aim to retake the southern city, which is close to the frontline.
Much of Ukraine came under attack overnight, as Russia attempts to break morale and public support for the war. Video images posted to social media channels show Shahed-2 drones striking the Dnipropetrovsk region.
Four people – including a 69-year-old woman – were injured in the attacks. Meanwhile, at least three Ukrainians died in Nikopol following aerial strikes on the city. Among the dead was Danylo Khizhnyak, a 23-year-old first responder.
A 62-year-old civilian woman in Huliaipole – located near the frontline in Zaporizhzhia region – also died.
The latest Russian onslaught followed talks between Putin and Trump’s Russia envoy Steve Witkoff in Moscow on Wednesday. The Kremlin cryptically remarked that the two sides had exchanged “signals” as part of “constructive” talks in the Russian capital.
Trump later said there was a “very good prospect” that he would soon hold direct talks with Putin.
Asked if the Russian president may be fooling him, the US president replied: “Can’t answer the question yet. I’ll tell you in a matter of weeks, maybe less. But we made a lot of progress.”
Ukraine launched its own attacks on Russia overnight, reportedly striking a Russian military unit in Slavyansk-na-Kubani in Krasnodar region.
A spectacular and “massive” inferno was burning at Afipsky Refinery in the same region after 6am explosions “rocked the facility, with flames lighting up the sky”.