Vladimir Putin has stuck two fingers up to Donald Trump by unleashing a massive blitz of aerial attacks on Ukraine just hours after the US president again called for the killing to stop. President Putin showed no signs of stepping into line with other world leaders by giving in to Trump’s demands for world peace, after the American leader’s recent success in Gaza.
Instead, the Kremlin dictator launched Russia’s fearsome MiG-31 bombers overnight, carrying deadly Kinzhal, or Dagger, hypersonic missiles, alongside a swarm of drones to wreak havoc on Ukrainian infrastructure. The bombardment from Putin came just hours after Trump said: “And all we want from President Putin is this: Stop killing Ukraines [sic] and stop killing Russians, cause he’s killing a lot of Russians. Again, it doesn’t make him look good.”
But this morning (Thursday) it appeared Putin does not care if he looks good, as Ukraine’s President Zelensky reported more than “300 attack drones and 37 missiles” had been fired against his country.
Posting on X this morning, the wartime leader wrote: “Last night brought strikes against our people, our energy sector, and our civilian infrastructure. Russia launched more than 300 attack drones and 37 missiles, a significant number of them ballistic, against Ukraine. Infrastructure in the Vinnytsia, Sumy, and Poltava regions came under attack.”
He added: “Putin has turned a deaf ear to everything the world says, so the only language that can still get through to him is the language of pressure – pressure through sanctions and pressure through long-range capabilities. Strong decisions are possible, decisions that can help.
“And this depends on the United States, on Europe, on all partners whose strength directly determines whether the war will be ended.”
The aggressive show of strength by Putin came as his nemesis Zelensky heads to Washington to meet Donald Trump amid signs the American leader has agreed to supply long-range Tomahawk missiles to help Ukraine defend itself.
Ukraine’s army general staff said on Thursday that Russia had lost 1,080 men – dead and wounded – in the past 24 hours as Putin refuses to halt his war and the toll rises.
Trump confirmed that Zelensky wants the firepower to hit back at Russia’s endless strikes. The US president said: “They want to go on offensive.
“I’ll make a determination on that. They would like to go offensive, you know that.”
He added there were “other options” than Tomahawks, which Russia has claimed would be tantamount to a US declaration of war on Moscow.
The American Tomahawk missile is a fearsome weapon capable of delivering a 1,000lb payload of conventional explosives over 1,500 miles. The missle, which also has a nuclear-capable variant, could be a game-changer for Ukraine in terms of hitting Russian military and infrastructure targets.
However, Moscow has said delivery of the Tomahawk system would be “of extreme concern” and a “serious escalation”. Kremlin spokesperson Dimitry Peskov said: “Just imagine: a long-range missile is launched and is flying, and we know that it could be nuclear.
“What should the Russian Federation think? Just how should Russia react? Military experts overseas should understand this.”