Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Vietnam, November 2017

EA on WION: Russia’s Record Missile and Drone Strikes Across Ukraine

Sunday’s Coverage: 12+ Killed in 2nd Night of Intense Russian Missile and Drone Strikes

Map: Institute for the Study of War

UPDATE 1313 GMT:

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has said in a discussion forum:

There are no longer any restrictions on the range of weapons delivered to Ukraine – neither by the UK, France, nor us. There are no restrictions by the US either.

This means that Ukraine can now defend itself, for example, by attacking military positions in Russia.

Until recently, it couldn’t do that, and apart from very few exceptions, it hadn’t done so either.

While Ukraine has been supplied with American ATACMS missiles, British Storm Shadows, and French SCALPs, the Biden Administration limited their deployment to use against Russian military forces in occupied Ukrainian territories. In late 2024 the Administration ease the restrictions so Ukraine could fire on Russian military targets in border regions, but Donald Biden criticized the relaxation when he took office.

Merz did not say if he would supply German Taurus missiles to Kyiv. Before becoming Chancellor, he signaled he would overturn the ban of his predecessor Olaf Scholz, but he stepped back from the commitment when he took office earlier this month.

UPDATE 1309 GMT:

French President Emmanuel Macron has said of Donald Trump’s outburst at Vladimir Putin over Russia’s strikes on Ukraine.

President Trump realizes that when President Putin said on the phone he was ready for peace, or told his envoys he was ready for peace, he lied. We have seen once again in recent hours Donald Trump express his anger. A form of impatience. I simply hope now that this translates into action.

UPDATE 1147 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has commented on the latest Russian missile and drone strikes with a renewed call for international sanctions, a freeze on Moscow’s finance, and a halt to its oil trade.

Only a sense of total impunity can allow Russia to carry out such strikes and continue increasing their scale. There is no real military logic to this, but there is significant political meaning. In doing this, Putin shows just how much he despises the world — the world that spends more effort on “dialogue” with him than on real pressure.

Like any criminal, Russia can only be constrained by force. Only through strength — the strength of the United States, of Europe, of all nations that value life — can these attacks be stopped and real peace achieved.

UPDATE 0959 GMT:

The Ukraine Prosecutor General’s office says Russian attacks have killed 630 Ukrainian children and injured 1,960 during Moscow’s full-scale 39-month invasion.

About half of the fatalities were in the Donetsk and Kharkiv regions in east and northeast Ukraine. There were also large numbers in the Dnipropetrovsk, Kyiv, Zaporizhia, Mykolaiv, and Sumy regions.

UPDATE 0953 GMT:

The Kremlin has responded to Donald Trump’s criticism of Vladimir Putin over Russia’s missile and drone strikes on Ukraine’s civilians.

“We are really grateful to the Americans and to President Trump personally for their assistance in organising and launching this negotiation process,” said spokesperson Dmitry Peskov. “Of course, at the same time, this is a very crucial moment, which is associated, of course, with the emotional overload of everyone absolutely and with emotional reactions.”

UPDATE 0837 GMT:

Defying Donald Trump’s outburst and the resolve of Ukraine and its international partners, Russia set another record overnight with its missile and drone strikes.

The Russians fired 355 drones and nine cruise missiles. Ukraine’s Air Force said 233 drones were “neutralized”, 55 lost to electronic counter-measures, and all missiles shot down.

UPDATE 0815 GMT:

Russia’s former President Dmitry Medvedev has declared that the Kremlin will seize almost all of Ukraine if Western countries continue to provide military assistance to Kyiv.

Medvedev, now Deputy Chairman of the State Security Council, said Moscow will create a “buffer zone”, leaving only a small strip of territory near the Polish border for Ukraine.

Vladimir Putin declared on May 22 that he had decided to establish a “buffer security zone”: “Our armed forces are currently solving this problem. We are actively suppressing enemy firing points. The work is underway.”

ORIGINAL ENTRY: For the second time in a month, Donald Trump has lashed out at Vladimir Putin over Russia’s record-setting, deadly missile and drone strikes on Ukraine’s civilians.

Trump posted on Sunday evening, more than 24 hours after Russia fired 69 missiles and 298 drones, killing 12 civilians and injuring 79.

I’ve always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him. He has gone absolutely CRAZY!

I’ve always said that he wants ALL of Ukraine, not just a piece of it, and maybe that’s proving to be right, but if he does, it will lead to the downfall of Russia!

Earlier he told reporters that he was “very surprised” that his Russian counterpart had Putin had escalated the bombardment of Ukrainian cities. Asked if he was seriously considering “putting more sanctions on Russia”, Trump replied: “Absolutely. He’s killing a lot of people. What the hell happened to him?”

But the reality TV star also continued his verbal assault on Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky. Agitated that Zelensky had criticized “the silence of America”, Trump snapped that the President was “doing his Country no favors by talking the way he does”: “Everything out of his mouth causes problems, I don’t like it, and it better stop.”

Zelensky: “Silence Will Only Encourage Putin”

On the defensive over a Ukraine-Europe initiative for a 30-day, ceasefire, pursuing its maximum demands for the capitulation of Ukraine, and facing a possible closing of the window for its invasion, Russia has been trying to break the will of the Ukrainian people.

On two consecutive nights, Moscow fired 85 ballistic missiles and more than 550 drones. At least 25 civilians were slain, including three children from the same family.

Zelensky posted:

Each such terrorist Russian strike is a sufficient reason for new sanctions against Russia. Russia is dragging out this war and continues to kill every day. The world may go on a weekend break, but the war continues, regardless of weekends and weekdays. This cannot be ignored. Silence of America, silence of others around the world only encourage Putin.

Without truly strong pressure on the Russian leadership, this brutality cannot be stopped.

European leaders joined the condemnation and call for action.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said, “Putin is not interested in peace, he wants to continue this war, and we must not allow this, which is why the European Union will agree on additional sanctions.”

Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna echoed:

Another night of Russia demonstrating its ongoing aim to wipe Ukraine off the map with swarms of drones and missiles — including ballistic ones.

Putin continues this until the pressure becomes unbearable. It’s in our hands to make him stop.

And before Trump’s outburst, his envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, posted, albeit without mentioning Russia:

Putin Overreaches Again

Continuing its series of failed gambles to conquer Ukraine, the Kremlin has again risking the loss of Trump’s support.

At the end of April, the US had presented a one-page “peace plan” with many of Vladimir Putin’s demands to Ukraine and its European partners. On April 23, Secretary of State Marco Rubio withdrew from a meeting in London when Kyiv, backed by the Europeans, rejected the ultimata.

But early the following day, Russian airstrikes. killed 12 civilians and injured 90 in Kyiv. Trump snapped at Putin, “Vladimir, STOP! I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and very bad timing.”

On April 26, less than two months after J.D. Vance ambushed Zelensky in the White House, Trump sat down with the President in the Vatican basilica for 15 minutes. The encounter, managed for maximium effect through photographs, gave Zelensky the opportunity to explain why Putin would never accept the ceasefire and a diplomatic end to Russia’s invasion.

The Russian overreach gave Kellogg and other US officials the space to back the Ukraine-Europe proposal for an unconditional, 30-day ceasefire. A deal was finally reached over Ukraine’s rare earth minerals, opening the possibility of the US joining security guarantees for Kyiv. The Trump Administration lifted its suspension of deliveries of military assistance.

To pull Trump back, the Kremlin proposed direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul. Then, when it effectively scuppered the talks — sending a lower-level delegation, insisting on its maximum demands, and threating the Ukrainians with a “forever war” — it finally offered Trump a phone call with Putin.

Moscow succeeded in getting Trump to set aside the priority of a ceasefire. Instead, the reality TV star promoted his notion of further Ukraine-Russia direct talks quickly bringing “peace”.

Before the latest wave of Russian strikes, Zelensky said to the nation:

Russia fills each day with horror and murder, it’s simply dragging out the war. All of this demands a response — a strong response from the United States, from Europe, and from everyone in the world who wants this war to end.

Putin has refused to cease fire repeatedly. It gains him nothing, except taking lives every single day. Every day gives new grounds for sanctions against Russia. Every day proves that without pressure on Russia, the war will continue.

Kremlin Continues Strikes on Civilians

But Russia persisted with its attacks on civilians, killing at least six people and injuring 24 across Ukraine over the past 24 hours.

In the Kharkiv region in the northeast, two people were killed and three injured in Kupiansk. The strikes damaged 39 houses, a business, a car repair shop, a store, and two vehicles.

In the Kherson region, one civilian was killed and four others wounded in shelling and drone attacks on at least 30 settlements. Two apartment buildings, 11 houses, a gas pipeline, a cellphone tower, and several vehicles were damaged.

Two people were slain in the Mykolaiv region in the south and one in the Sumy region in the northeast.

Casualties were also reported from the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Odesa regions.