Vladimir Putin ignored Donald Trump’s pleas to ‘stop’ the fighting as he unleashed a massive bombing campaign on Ukraine, injuring dozens of civilians including two children
Vladimir Putin has unleashed another huge bombing campaign on Ukraine in spite of Donald Trump’s peace plan – sparking warnings from Volodymyr Zelensky that World War III could begin this summer.
Ignoring Donald Trump’s appeals to “STOP!”, Russian forces unleashed 16 strikes on civilians in Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv last night – leaving 45 people wounded, including two children and a pregnant woman. Dozens of the wounded suffered “acute stress reaction” from the barrage, which destroyed or damaged 77 homes. The kamikaze drone attacks hit multi-story residential buildings, private houses, a medical facility and civilian infrastructure. In Dnipro, Putin’s barrage left one person dead, two injured, and destroyed five homes.
The latest carnage came as Trump marked his 100 days in office by telling ABC News that Putin wanted peace, stressing: “I think he does….
“If it weren’t for me, I think he’d want to take over the whole country [Ukraine].”
The US president issued a fresh warning over the Kremlin strikes.
“I will tell you, I was not happy when I saw Putin shooting missiles into a few towns and cities,” he said.
But as Trump spoke, Putin continued his onslaught against Ukrainian civilians, with videos showing the overnight terror and mayhem.
It adds to the mounting evidence that the Russian ruler has no intention of agreeing to halt the bloodshed, despite the Kremlin taking an official position that it is “open” to stopping the war.
Meanwhile, Zelensky warned of his fears that Putin will use planned military drills in neighbouring state Belarus this summer as a smokescreen for a wider attack on NATO – a move that could trigger World War III.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine had been preceded by war games in 2022, leaving some fearing that history could repeat itself.
Zelensky said: “This summer Russia is preparing something there, under cover of military exercises,”
Of the Zapad-2025 Russian drills in Belarus scheduled for September and involving at least 13,000 Putin fighters, Zelensky said: “Where will it go? I don’t know.
“Ukraine? Lithuania? Poland? God forbid!
“But we all need to be ready.
“All our institutions are open for cooperation.”
The Ukrainian leader warned: “We need to stand together not just politically, but in a purely practical sense to defend against real challenges.”
Ukraine also hit a key military target in Russia overnight – a gunpowder and ammunition plant in Murom, Vladimir region.
The explosions – which set off a huge fire – were recorded at the Murom gunpowder Plant, which supplies many branches of the Putin war machine with pyrotechnic devices.
In a separate operation, Ukraine struck a warehouse in the town of Rylsk in the Kursk region, where they are attempting to repel an advance by Russian and North Korean troops.
Russian sources reported a 45-year-old man and a 21-year-old woman were injured and taken to hospital.