Russia fires hundreds of drones at Ukraine, defying Trump warning
Russia blasted Ukraine overnight with munitions, defying calls by Donald Trump to reach a peace deal as the EU upped its defence budget for Kyiv to 130 billion euros.
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Russia fired hundreds of drones, artillery and a ballistic missile at Ukraine early Wednesday, local time, Ukraine said, defying calls by US President Donald Trump to reach a peace deal.
The attacks left one woman dead and wounded more than two dozen people across multiple regions, while a missile attack cut power and water in Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s home city of Kryvyi Rig, according to authorities.
The bombardment came two days after Mr Trump threatened to impose severe sanctions against Russia unless it reached a peace settlement within 50 days to end its three-year war on Ukraine.
Russia fired at least 400 drones at Ukraine between late Tuesday and early Wednesday, as well as an Iskander ballistic missile launched from the annexed Crimean peninsula, the Ukrainian air force said.
Overnight drone attacks on the central Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia left eight wounded, while three were wounded in an attack on the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, local authorities said.
Russian attacks on the city of Kryvyi Rig wounded at least 15 people, destroyed an industrial building and disrupted power and water supplies, according to local officials.
A 17-year-old boy was among those injured, the city’s mayor Oleksandr Vilkul said on Telegram.
“He was wounded in the abdominal cavity. He was immediately taken to the hospital, in serious condition. Now doctors are fighting for his life,” he wrote.
“This has never happened before. A ballistic missile and 28 Shaheds simultaneously,” he added, referring to Iranian-designed drones.
Russia has stepped up its campaign against Ukraine in recent weeks as Washington-mediated ceasefire talks stall.
Its army has pushed ahead on the battlefield, while pounding Ukraine with combined drone, artillery and missile strikes.
Mr Trump said Monday he had struck a deal with NATO to supply more American air defence systems and weapons to Ukraine, citing his frustration with Russia’s refusal to accept a ceasefire.
Meanwhile, The EU executive proposed on a long-term budget boost.
Presenting the 2028-2034 budget blueprint to reporters in Brussels, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said it “will be the most ambitious ever proposed.”
As Europe pushes to re-arm, the amounts dedicated to defence and space will increase five-fold - to 131 billion euros, earmarking up to 100 billion euros to support war-torn Ukraine over its seven-year period.
“This is a long-term commitment to Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction,” budget chief Piotr Serafin said.
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‘CAN YOU HIT MOSCOW?’ TRUMP’S QUESTION SPARKS FEAR OF WWIII
Donald Trump questioned Volodymyr Zelensky on whether Kyiv could blast Moscow and St Petersburg to make Russians “feel the pain” and strike a deal to end the conflict in Ukraine, according to a report.
“Volodymyr, can you hit Moscow? … Can you hit St Petersburg too?” Mr Trump asked on a July 4 call with Mr Zelensky, a day after the US President had a disappointing phone call with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, the Financial Times reported, citing multiple sources.
Mr Zelensky reportedly replied, “Absolutely. We can if you give us the weapons.”
The revelation comes a day after Mr Trump pledged to arm Ukraine with billions of dollars in weaponry and threatened to slap 100 per cent tariffs on Russian goods if Vladimir Putin did not end the war within 50 days.
The White House told The New York Post that the comments should not be taken out of context, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt pushing back on the Financial Times’ framing of the call, which suggested Mr Trump encouraged Mr Zelensky to step up strikes deep into Russian territory.
“The Financial Times is notorious for taking words wildly out of context to get clicks because their paper is dying,” Ms Leavitt told The Post.
“President Trump was merely asking a question, not encouraging further killing. He’s working tirelessly to stop the killing and end this war.”
HOW MELANIA CONVINCED TRUMP TO MAKE HUGE CALL ON UKRAINE
Donald Trump will arm Ukraine with billions of dollars in weaponry and has threatened to slap crippling tariffs on Russian goods if Vladimir Putin does not end the war within 50 days.
The US President said he was “very unhappy” with his Russian counterpart who has stalled and reneged on ceasefire agreements for months.
“I’m disappointed in Putin because I thought we would have had a deal two months ago, but it doesn’t seem to get there,” Mr Trump said.
“So based on that, we’re going to be doing secondary tariffs if we don’t have a deal in 50 days. It’s very simple. And they’ll be at 100 per cent. And that’s the way it is.”
Russia had since responded and described the ultimatum as “very serious” and will take time to review it.
“It seems that such a decision made in Washington and in NATO countries and directly in Brussels will be perceived by Kyiv not as a signal for peace but for the continuation of the war,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
“President Trump’s statement is very serious. We certainly need time to analyse what was said in Washington.”
Speaking alongside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the White House on Tuesday, Mr Trump said American made weapons including air defence systems would be purchased by NATO to arm Ukraine in its war with Russia.
“In a nutshell, we’re going to make top of the line weapons, and they’ll be sent to NATO,” he said.
Mr Trump later told of how the First Lady may have helped convince him to ramp up military aid to Ukraine.
As he explained his decision to get tough on Putin, Mr Trump said his wife Melania was one of the people who directly pointed out to him that Putin always backs out of his promises following their phone calls over a peace deal.
“I go home, I tell the first lady, ‘You know, I spoke to Vladimir today. We had a wonderful conversation.’ She said, ‘Oh, really? Another city was just hit,’” he recalled.
Melania, who is originally from Slovenia, has not publicly spoken out on the Ukraine war before, but the country of her birth has kept cold relations with Russia since the invasion began in February 2022.
As part of a planned crackdown, secondary sanctions could be placed on any countries that buy Russian goods, including oil and minerals.
Mr Trump explained it was his wife Melania who highlighted to him that Putin’s actions didn’t line up with what he was telling the American leader.
“I go home, I tell the first lady, ‘You know, I spoke to Vladimir today. We had a wonderful conversation.’ She said, ‘Oh, really? another city was just hit,’” he said
Mr Trump has become increasingly frustrated with failed attempts to bring an end to the war that has been raging since February 2022.
He said despite “very pleasant” phone calls with the Russian leader, missiles were then launched “into Kyiv or some other city”.
“I don’t want to say he’s an assassin but he’s a tough guy,” Mr Trump said.
He said Mr Putin had fooled a lot of people.
“He didn’t fool me but what I do say is that, at a certain point ultimately talk doesn’t talk.
“It’s got to be action. It’s got to be results. And I hope he does it.”
Mr Rutte welcomed the US support, saying “this is really big”, and that Germany, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands and Canada “all want to be part of this”.
“And this is only the first wave. There will be more,” he said.
“So what we will do is work through the NATO systems to make sure that we know what Ukrainians need to make packages,” he said.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Germany would play a “decisive role” in a new deal. Mr Trump has “taken an important step today,” Mr Merz said in a statement shared by his office.
“President Trump and I have discussed this several times over the past few days. I assured him that Germany will play a decisive role.”
The growing support for Ukraine comes months after Mr Trump dramatically evicted President Volodymyr Zelensky from the Oval Office after accusing him of not wanting peace with Russia and provoking a third world war.
UKRAINIAN DRONE ATTACK INJURES 16 PEOPLE
A Ukrainian drone attack on Russia’s western city of Voronezh wounded 16 people, local officials said Tuesday, as Russia’s defence ministry said it downed 55 drones overnight.
Ukraine has vowed to step up its drone strikes on Russian territory in retaliation for Moscow firing record numbers of drones and missiles and Ukrainian cities in recent weeks, attacks that have killed dozens of civilians.
“At the moment we know of 16 people wounded in the overnight attack,” Voronezh Governor Alexander Gusev said in a post on social media.
“The most common are shrapnel wounds and cut wounds... In total, 13 people have been hospitalised,” Gusev said on Telegram.
Footage from local media showed damaged window shops and shards of glass scattered on the streets.
Russia’s defence ministry said earlier it had downed 55 Ukrainian drones overnight, mostly over the western Belgorod region and Voronezh, which also borders Ukraine.
Kyiv also reported an overnight attack on its northeast Sumy region, saying “a medical facility” was targeted in a strike that wounded a child.
“Russians attacked a medical facility in the Shostka community. As a result of the attack, a fire broke out,” Ukraine’s emergency services said.
‘THANK YOU AMERICA’: ZELENSKY REACTS TO TRUMP’S ANNOUNCEMENT
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has spoken to both Mr Trump and Rutte in the wake of the weapons agreement where he relayed his immense gratitude.
“Thank you for the willingness to support Ukraine and to continue working together to stop the killings and establish a lasting and just peace,” Mr Zelensky said on X his conversation with Mr Trump.
“We agreed to catch up more often by phone and co-ordinate our steps in the future as well. Thank you, Mr President! Thank you, America!”
Mr Zelensky said he was particularly happy about Mr Trump’s comments regarding Russia’s culpability.
I am grateful to President Trump for his readiness to help protect our people’s lives. This war continues solely because of Russia, because of Putin’s desire to drag it out. Russia is trying to make the war seem like the “new normal.†We must never put up with this. Everything… pic.twitter.com/i16GSeTSqZ
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир ЗеленÑький (@ZelenskyyUa) July 14, 2025
“This war continues solely because of Russia, because of Putin’s desire to drag it out. Russia is trying to make the war seem like the ‘new normal,’” Mr Zelensky wrote.
“We must never put up with this. Everything humanly possible must be done to force Russia to stop the killings, to achieve real peace, and to ensure security. Peace is only possible through strength.”
- with AFP.
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