Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump in the Vatican basilica, April 26, 2025

Thursday’s Coverage: Kyiv Disrupts Putin’s “Ceasefire” for Victory Day

Map: Institute for the Study of War

UPDATE 1748 GMT:

At least two civilians were killed and 12 injured by Russian attacks across Ukraine over the past day, despite Vladimir Putin’s self-declared “ceasefire”.

In the Kherson region in southern Ukraine, one person was salin and one injured. A residential apartment building and three houses were damaged.

A woman was killed in a Russian attack on the Zaporizhzhia region in southern Ukraine. Two residents were injured by a first-person-view drone.

In the Kharkiv region in the northeast, five people were injured in assaults with FPV drones and artillery.

Casualties were also reported in the Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk regions.

UPDATE 1736 GMT:

The Trump Administration and the Kremlin are discussing the potential resumption of Russian gas supplies to Europe.

Vladimir Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov confirmed the discussions after a Reuters report based on “eight sources familiar with the matter”.

“We raise this topic with the Americans, but with whom else, frankly, I don’t understand,” Ushakov told the Russian State-run Interfax news agency.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, European Union nations have cut reliance on Russian gas from 45% of supply to 19%.

However, countries including Hungary, Slovakia, Belgium, and France are still receiving Russian gas through pipelines or long-term liquefied natural gas contracts.

On Tuesday, the European Commission presented a detailed roadmap to end energy dependence on Russia by 2027.

UPDATE 1413 GMT:

Ukraine says it has broken up a spy ring of neighboring Hungary.

Ukrainian officials say Budapest, whose Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is an ally of Vladimir Putin, was collecting sensitive military data and considering a future incursion into western Ukraine. State security service SBU said the spy ring was run by a “staff officer of Hungarian military intelligence”.

Two Ukrainian military veterans were detained ahd charged with high treason. They allegedly were given cash to collect information and recruit informants.

Hungary’s Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó dismissed the accusations as “propaganda”. He announced the expulsion of two Ukrainians, declaring they were “spies working under diplomatic cover” at the Ukraine Embassy in Budapest.

UPDATE 1409 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky says European leaders will meet in Ukraine on Saturday.

Zelensky made the announcement to a military summit in Oslo via video link, without saying who would attend.

We are also getting ready in Ukraine for a meeting with the leaders of the coalition of the willing. Serious work ahead. We need this coalition, and we need it to be strong enough to guarantee security the way we all agree on.

UPDATE 1358 GMT:

Meeting in Lviv in western Ukraine, representatives of the European Union’s members, the UK, and other partners have expressed solidarity with Kyiv against Russia’s invasion.

The EU pledged to disburse €1 billion ($1.1 billion), from the proceeds of frozen Russian assets, to Ukrainian arms companies. The allies approved a tribunal to try Russian leaders for “the crime of aggression against Ukraine”.

“We are jointly celebrating the Day of Europe, while a parade is taking place in the Kremlin. And Putin – he may consider himself the so-called victor, but he has no right to monopolise victory,” said Ukraine Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha.

UPDATE 0918 GMT:

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced the largest sanctions package against Russia during Moscow’s 38 1/2-month invasion of Ukraine.

The measures target 100 tankers of Russia’s “shadow fleet”, used to circumvent restrictions on Moscow’s oil exports.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke with Donald Trump for 20 minutes by phone on Thursday about an end to Russia’s 38 1/2-month invasion.

The conversation was the first since the two men met for 15 minutes on April 26 in the Vatican basilica, on the sidelines of the funeral of Pope Francis. Afterwards, Trump finally challenged Vladimir Putin over his killing of Ukrainian civilians and refusal of an unconditional ceasefire.

After Thursday’s discussion, Trump again called for “ideally, a 30-day unconditional ceasefire”: “If the ceasefire is not respected, the US and its partners will impose further sanctions.”

Zelensky told Trump:

Ukraine is ready for a 30-day ceasefire, starting even today. We are waiting for Russia to support this proposal.

Ukraine is ready to engage in talks in any format. But for that, Russia must demonstrate the seriousness of its intentions to end the war, starting with a full unconditional ceasefire.

He and Trump also discussed the Ukraine-US minerals deal, ratified on Thursday by the Ukrainian Parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, by a 338-0 vote.

Russia Breaks Putin’s “Ceasefire” 734 Times

Russian forces violated Vladimir Putin’s self-declared “ceasefire” 734 times in its first 12 hours, said Ukrainian officials.

Hoping to avoid Ukrainian drone attacks on Friday, Russia’s Victory Day marking defeat of Germany in World War II, Putin proclaimed a pause from May 8-11.

Ukraine Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha posted:

Early Thursday, Russia bombed northeast Ukraine, killing at least one civilian. It carried out artillery assaults across the 1,000-km (620-mile) frontline, including near Chasiv Yar in the Donetsk region in northeast Ukraine.

“There is no truce. There is shelling, artillery, drone and FPV [bomb] drops,” said Petro Kuzyk, a battalion commander of the National Guard.

Reuters journalists with a Ukrainian drone unit reported an attempt by a Russian infantry raiding partyto advance. “The infantry are still coming,” said one of the unit’s soldiers.

Another Ukrainian soldier said there were three strikes on his section of the frontline in the first six hours of the “ceasefire”: “The facts speak for themselves.”

The Russians fired a missile in the Poltava region in central Ukraine, damaging roofs of houses when it was downed by air defenses.