Russia launched a series of drone strikes targeting civilian areas and infrastructure in Ukraine overnight, including a hospital in Sumy, just hours after President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone call discussing a potential 30-day ceasefire.
While Trump had announced that Putin agreed to immediately halt attacks on energy and infrastructure, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported Wednesday that Russia’s strikes continued unabated, contradicting Putin’s alleged commitment. RELATED: Trump, Putin Agree On Limited Ceasefire In Russia-Ukraine War
“This confirms that we must continue to pressure Russia for the sake of peace,” Zelenskyy said. “Only a real halt to Russia’s attacks on civilian infrastructure can signal a genuine desire to end this war and bring peace closer.”
Air raid sirens blared in Kyiv shortly after Trump and Putin wrapped up their lengthy phone call, followed by explosions across multiple Ukrainian regions as residents took shelter.
According to Ukrainian emergency services, Russian drone strikes:
- Damaged a hospital in Sumy, leading to the evacuation of 150 patients
- Hit cities in Donetsk region, escalating ongoing battles in the east
- Sent drones over multiple Ukrainian regions, including Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Sumy, Chernihiv, Poltava, Kharkiv, Kirovohrad, Dnipropetrovsk, and Cherkasy
Despite the White House describing the Trump-Putin conversation as a “first step toward peace,” there was no sign that Putin had altered his conditions for a full ceasefire.
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According to the Russian government’s readout of the call, Putin reiterated that Moscow would only agree to a complete ceasefire if the U.S. and its Western allies halted all military and intelligence aid to Ukraine.
The Biden administration previously rejected these conditions, arguing they amount to a surrender for Ukraine. The White House did not mention these demands in its Tuesday statement, raising questions about the effectiveness of the Trump administration’s diplomatic outreach.
Zelenskyy responded firmly to Russia’s continued attacks, calling for greater international support to resist Moscow’s aggression.
“I do not believe that we should make any concessions in terms of assistance for Ukraine, but rather there should be an increase in assistance for Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said.
His comments suggest that Ukraine remains opposed to any peace deal that forces Kyiv to halt its military efforts while Russian attacks persist.
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Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused Ukraine of undermining U.S.-Russia peace efforts, claiming that Moscow had paused an attack on Ukraine’s energy grid but that Kyiv refused to do the same.
He alleged that Russia had shot down seven of its own drones to honor the Trump-Putin ceasefire agreement, while Ukraine continued its drone strikes on Russian infrastructure.
The Russian Defense Ministry reported that 57 Ukrainian drones had been intercepted over the Azov Sea and border provinces in Kursk, Bryansk, Oryol, and Tula, with additional strikes targeting an oil depot in the Krasnodar region near Crimea.
While Trump has positioned his direct engagement with Putin as a pathway to peace, Russia’s continued attacks underscore the fragility of any proposed ceasefire.
With both sides blaming each other for escalating hostilities, the prospects for a lasting resolution remain uncertain, and the war in Ukraine appears poised to continue despite renewed diplomatic efforts.
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