President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine was hit by the largest air strikes ever made by Russia – 728 drones and 13 cruise or ballistic missiles hit cities across the country.
Zelensky condemned the “telling the attack” and added: “It is at the time of working to establish a ceasefire for peace, but only Russia continues to reject them.”
The strike happened after President Donald Trump said the United States would send more weapons to Kiev, a reversal of Trump’s suspension last week.
On Tuesday, U.S. leaders expressed increasingly frustration at Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “nonsense”.
“He has always been nice to us, but it turns out to be meaningless,” Trump said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow “is very calm about it. Trump’s way of talking is usually very demanding, the phrase he uses.”
The two leaders have been in regular contact, but so far this has not translated into a tangible step to a ceasefire in Ukraine – Trump once said he would be able to achieve it in one day.
Last week, Trump said after calling the Russian president that he was “very upset”.
“He wants to go all the way and just keep killing, which is bad,” Trump said of Putin.
Criticism even the Trump administration announced a moratorium on military aid to Ukraine, with U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Deputy Secretary of Defense Policy Elbridge Colby reportedly authorized the policy.
Asked by reporters, the person who made the decision on Tuesday – Trump, who sat next to Heggs, replied: “I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me?”
According to U.S. export Axios, the reversal of the decision could now mean that 10 Patriot missiles could be sent to Ukraine.
Kiev relies on interceptors to counter Russian missile and drone attacks, which continue to grow in intensity and frequency.
Although the country’s eastern and Kiev are regularly under fire, the Russian strike has not yet survived Ukraine.
The city of Lutsk, 90 kilometers (56 miles) from the Polish border, is a transit hub for military and humanitarian aid – the first to bear the brunt of Tuesday’s overnight attack.
The explosion was also reported in the western cities of Lviv and Rivne.
Two rounds of ceasefire negotiations between Russia and Ukraine took place earlier this year, but no other meetings were arranged so far – neither Moscow nor Kiev had so optimistic that diplomacy would resolve the conflict, triggered by a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Meanwhile, Russia’s summer offensive in eastern Ukraine began.
“We are moving forward,” Peskov said on Wednesday. “Ukrainians must accept new reality every day.”
