Trump says Putin's “crazy” when Russia attacks Ukraine with drone attacks – Country
Russia launched the largest drone attack on Ukraine overnight in more than three years of war, an Ukrainian official said on Monday. President Donald Trump said Russian leader Vladimir Putin strengthened Ukrainian bombing “crazy” when the United States tried to promote peace.
Yuriy Ihnat, head of the Ukrainian Air Force Communications Department, told the Associated Press that Russian bombings included 355 drones.
The night before, Russia fired 298 drones and 69 missiles of various types at Ukraine, and the Ukrainians were talking about the largest comprehensive air attack during the conflict. Russia launched about 900 drones in Ukraine from Friday to Sunday, officials said.
The escalation appears to be a hindrance, and hopes that Trump's peace efforts may make a breakthrough in the near term, as Putin appears determined to occupy more Ukrainian territory and cause greater losses.
Russia broke the record of three air bombings on Ukraine this month. Moscow effectively rejected the expansion of the air battle after Kyiv accepted an unconditional ceasefire proposed by the United States in March.
Ukrainian and military analysts say Russia is still pushing along the frontline of about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles), where it has made slow and expensive progress and is assembling troops for the summer offensive.
“Only a feeling of total impunity can allow Russia to carry out such attacks and continuously escalate its scale,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote in a telegram on Monday. “This has no significant military logic, but it has considerable political significance.”
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He repeated calls for stricter international economic sanctions against Russia as a way to end the war, as Russia's “desire to fight must be deprived of resources.”
The EU's top diplomat, Foreign Ministry head Kaja Kallas, on Monday called the latest attack on Kiev “completely shocking” and said the group intends to impose more sanctions on Russia.
Trump has also threatened large-scale sanctions on Moscow, but has not taken action so far.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin made the necessary decision to ensure Russia's security and the attack was Moscow's reaction to Ukraine's deep strike.
Peskov said Russia thanked the United States for its efforts to achieve peace, which Peterskov said, including the country’s first direct peace talks in three years.
He said the negotiations were at a “decisive moment, with the emotional overload of everyone.”
How many times have Ukraine been fired in drones and missiles?
Trump made it clear that he had lost patience with Putin. “I've always had a good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something happened to him. He was absolutely crazy!” Trump wrote in a social media post on Sunday night.
Trump said Putin “undoesceded many people”, noting that “missiles and drones were shot to Ukrainian cities for no reason.”
The U.S. president warned that if Putin wants to conquer all Ukraine, it will “cause Russia's downfall!” But Trump also expressed frustration with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who said he “does not help his country by talking about his own way.”
Russia and Ukraine exchanged hundreds of prisoners in the third and final part of Sunday, a rare moment of cooperation
The Russian Defense Ministry said that soldiers on each side of each side released 390 soldiers on Friday after releasing 307 combatants and civilians on Saturday, the largest exchange for the war's total swap.
During talks held in Istanbul earlier this month, Kiev and Moscow agreed to swap 1,000 prisoners of war and civilian detainees. Communication is the only tangible result in negotiations.
–Lorne Cook of Brussels contributed.
& Copy 2025 Canadian Press
