 "Zelenskyy to talk to Trump after Russia bombs Ukraine despite ceasefire")
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Wednesday that he would speak with US President Donald Trump, following a fresh wave of Russian attacks, just hours after President Vladimir Putin reportedly pledged to halt strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
The promise came during a call between Putin and Trump, where the Russian leader allegedly agreed to pause assaults on energy facilities for 30 days. However, within hours of the conversation, Russia launched a large-scale drone and missile offensive on multiple Ukrainian targets.
Speaking at a press conference in Helsinki, Zelenskyy blasted Putin for breaking his word.
“Even this night after Putin’s talk with President Trump, when Putin allegedly said he had given the order to stop strikes on the Ukrainian energy targets, 150 drones hit energy infrastructure, transport, and unfortunately two hospitals,” Zelenskyy said.
“Putin’s words are very different from reality," he added.
Shortly after the Putin-Trump call ended, air raid sirens sounded across Kyiv as explosions lit up the night sky. Ukrainian air defences intercepted many of the drones, but the attack still caused widespread damage.
According to Ukrainian officials, six Russian missiles and 145 drones hit civilian infrastructure across the country. A key target was the power supply for Ukraine’s national railway network in the Dnipropetrovsk region, which suffered outages. However, the national railway operator confirmed that train traffic remained on schedule, despite some areas being without electricity.
This same railway line had been targeted earlier in the week.
Meanwhile, in the Sumy region of northern Ukraine, Russian shelling struck an apartment building, killing one person and injuring three others. A drone also crashed into the roof of a local hospital. Zelenskyy had recently warned that Russia was amassing forces near the Sumy border, raising fears of further escalation.
Adding to the confusion, Russia’s defence ministry claimed it shot down its own drones that were en route to attack energy infrastructure in the Mykolayiv region, saying the move followed a direct order from Putin to suspend energy-related strikes after his call with Trump.
Despite this, the overnight assault continued to devastate Ukrainian infrastructure.
In a separate development, a Ukrainian drone struck an oil facility in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region, sparking a large fire, according to local media. The attack is seen as part of Ukraine’s response to Russia’s ongoing aggression.
Zelenskyy emphasised that Ukraine only targets Russian facilities in retaliation.
“If the Russians would stop hitting our targets, we would certainly not be striking their targets,” he added.
(With agency inputs)