Russia seizes Ukrainian border villages as its massive bombing campaign slows
Russian forces have taken four border villages in Ukraine's northeastern Sumy region, a local official said Tuesday, days after Russian President Vladimir Putin said he had issued an order to establish a buffer zone along the border.
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Sumy borders Russia's Kursk region, where a surprise Ukrainian incursion last year captured a pocket of land in the first occupation of Russian territory since World War II. Creating a buffer zone could help Russia prevent further Ukrainian cross-border attacks there.
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Meanwhile, a Russian bombing campaign that had escalated in recent days slowed overnight as far fewer Russian drones targeted Ukrainian towns and cities.
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Moscow's invasion has shown no signs of stopping despite months of intense U.S.-led efforts to secure a ceasefire and get traction for peace talks. Since Russian and Ukrainian delegations met in Turkey earlier this month for their first direct talks in three years, a large prisoner exchange has been the only tangible outcome, but negotiations have brought no significant breakthrough.
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Between Friday and Sunday, Russia launched around 900 drones at Ukraine, officials said, amid a spate of large-scale bombardments. On Sunday night, Russia launched its biggest drone attack of the 3-year war against Ukraine, firing 355 drones.
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From Monday to Tuesday, Russia fired 60 drones at Ukraine, the Ukrainian air force said Tuesday. Russia's Ministry of Defense claimed its air defenses downed 99 Ukrainian drones overnight over seven Russian regions.
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The weekend surge in Russia's bombardments of Ukraine drew a rebuke from U.S. President Donald Trump, who said Putin had gone 'crazy.' That comment prompted a sharp Kremlin reaction Monday, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov criticizing 'emotional reactions' to events.
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Peskov adopted a milder tone Tuesday, hailing U.S. peace efforts and saying that 'the Americans and President Trump have taken a quite balanced approach.'
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In Sumy, Russian forces are trying to advance deeper after capturing villages, Oleh Hryhorov, head of the Sumy regional military administration, said in a statement.
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Ukrainian forces are endeavoring to hold the line, he said. Residents of the captured villages were evacuated earlier, and there is no immediate threat to civilians, Hryhorov said.
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CTV News
3 hours ago
- CTV News
New German leader plans to discuss Ukraine and trade with Trump in Oval Office visit
WASHINGTON — Germany's new leader is meeting U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington on Thursday as he works to keep the U.S. on board with Western support for Ukraine, help defuse trade tensions that pose a risk to Europe's biggest economy and further bolster his country's long-criticized military spending. Trump and Chancellor Friedrich Merz have spoken several times by phone, either bilaterally or with other European leaders, since Merz took office on May 6. German officials say the two leaders have started to build a 'decent' relationship, with Merz wanting to avoid the antagonism that defined Trump's relationship with one of his predecessors, Angela Merkel, in the Republican president's first term. The 69-year-old Merz is a conservative former rival of Merkel's who took over her party after she retired from politics. Merz also comes to office with an extensive business background — something that could align him with Trump. On Thursday, Merz told reporters in Washington ahead of his meeting with Trump that 'the meeting has been well prepared on all sides.' He said he wants to discuss the Ukraine war, tariffs and NATO spending. 'We will have to talk about NATO — we changed the constitution in Germany so that we can spend the means that need to be spent,' Merz said, adding that 'we want to become the strongest conventional army in the European Union.' Before it took office, Merz's coalition pushed plans through parliament to enable higher defense spending by loosening strict rules on incurring debt. Still, Merz said he didn't anticipate major breakthroughs on any of the key issues that he planned to discuss with Trump. A White House official said topics that Trump is likely to raise with Merz include Germany's defense spending, trade, Ukraine and what the official called 'democratic backsliding,' saying the administration's view is that shared values such as freedom of speech have deteriorated in Germany and the country should reverse course. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to preview the discussions. But Merz told reporters Thursday morning that if Trump wanted to talk German domestic politics, he was ready to do that but he also stressed Germany holds back when it comes to American domestic politics. Merz will want to avoid an Oval Office showdown of the kind that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa experienced in recent months. Asked about the risk of a White House blow-up, Merz spokesperson Stefan Kornelius said on Monday that the chancellor is 'well-prepared' for the meeting and that he and Trump have 'built up a decent relationship, at least by phone' and via text messaging. Keeping Ukraine's Western backers together Merz has thrown himself into diplomacy on Ukraine, traveling to Kyiv with fellow European leaders days after taking office and receiving Zelenskyy in Berlin last week. He has thanked Trump for his support for an unconditional ceasefire while rejecting the idea of 'dictated peace' or the 'subjugation' of Ukraine and advocating for more sanctions against Russia. The White House official said Trump on Thursday will stress that direct peace talks must continue. In their first phone call since Merz became chancellor, Trump said he would support the efforts of Germany and other European countries to achieve peace, according to a readout from the German government. Merz also said last month that 'it is of paramount importance that the political West not let itself be divided, so I will continue to make every effort to produce the greatest possible unity between the European and American partners.' Under Merz's immediate predecessor, Olaf Scholz, Germany became the second-biggest supplier of military aid to Ukraine after the United States. Merz has vowed to keep up the support and last week pledged to help Ukraine develop its own long-range missile systems that would be free of any range limits. Military spending At home, Merz's government is intensifying a drive that Scholz started to bolster the German military after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In Trump's first term, Berlin was a target of his ire for failing to meet the current NATO target of spending 2% of gross domestic product on defense, and Trump is now demanding at least 5% from allies. The White House official said the upcoming NATO summit in the Netherlands later this month is a 'good opportunity' for Germany to commit to meeting that 5% mark. Scholz set up a 100 billion euro (US$115 billion) special fund to modernize Germany's armed forces — called the Bundeswehr — which had suffered from years of neglect. Germany has met the 2% target thanks to the fund, but it will be used up in 2027. Merz has said that 'the government will in the future provide all the financing the Bundeswehr needs to become the strongest conventional army in Europe.' He has endorsed a plan for all allies to aim to spend 3.5% of GDP on their defense budgets by 2032, plus an extra 1.5% on potentially defense-related things like infrastructure. Germany's economy and tariffs Another top priority for Merz is to get Germany's economy, Europe's biggest, moving again after it shrank the past two years. 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Far-right tensions One source of strain in recent months is a speech Vice President JD Vance gave in Munich shortly before Germany's election in February, in which he lectured European leaders about the state of democracy on the continent and said there is no place for 'firewalls.' That term is frequently used to describe mainstream German parties' refusal to work with the far-right Alternative for Germany, which finished second in the election and is now the biggest opposition party. Merz criticized the comments. He told ARD television last month that it isn't the place of a U.S. vice president 'to say something like that to us in Germany; I wouldn't do it in America, either.' ___ Seung Min Kim, Kirsten Grieshaber And Geir Moulson, The Associated Press Moulson reported from Berlin. Associated Press writer Josh Boak in Washington contributed to this report.
Vancouver Sun
4 hours ago
- Vancouver Sun
Putin strikes Ukraine after Trump call, killing 1-year-old and four others
At least five people, including a 1-year-old child, his mother and grandmother, were killed Thursday in a nighttime Russian drone strike that hit the northern Ukrainian city of Pryluky, officials said. Six drones hit a residential area in the city shortly before dawn, according to authorities. The child killed was the grandson of an emergency responder, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. 'One of the rescuers arrived to respond to the aftermath right at his own home,' Zelenskyy said in a post on Telegram. 'It turned out that a Shahed drone hit his house.' Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. The attack came just hours after U.S. President Donald Trump spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to Trump, Putin said 'very strongly' that Russia will retaliate for Ukraine's weekend stunning drone attacks on Russian military airfields. U.S.-led diplomatic efforts to stop the more than 3-year-long war have delivered no significant progress, and the grinding war of attrition has continued unabated. The mother of the 1-year-old killed in Pryluky was a police officer called Daryna Shyhyda, Ukraine's National Police said. 'Today our hearts are scorched by pain,' the police force wrote on Telegram. 'This is not just a loss — it is three generations of life uprooted.' Six people were wounded in the Pryluky attack and are in hospital, officials said. Pryluky, which had a prewar population of around 50,000 people, lies about 100 kilometers (60 miles) east of Kyiv, the capital. The city is far from the front line and does not contain any known military assets. The last time Pryluky was struck was in November last year, when a Russian missile hit an administrative building and injured one person. Zelenskyy said a total of 103 drones and one ballistic missile targeted multiple Ukrainian regions overnight, including Donetsk, Kharkiv, Odesa, Sumy, Chernihiv, Dnipro and Kherson. 'This is another massive strike,' Zelenskyy said. 'It is yet another reason to impose the strongest possible sanctions and apply pressure collectively.' Zelenskyy, who has accepted a U.S. ceasefire proposal and offered to meet with Putin in an attempt to break the stalemate in negotiations, wants more international sanctions on Russia to force it to accept a settlement. Putin has shown no willingness to meet with Zelenskyy, however, and has indicated no readiness to compromise. Germany's new leader Friedrich Merz was due to meet with President Donald Trump in Washington on Thursday as he works to keep the U.S. on board with Western diplomatic and military support for Ukraine. Ukraine's top presidential aide, Andriy Yermak, met with senior American officials in Washington on Wednesday and called for greater U.S. pressure on Russia, accusing the Kremlin of deliberately stalling ceasefire talks and blocking progress toward peace, according to a statement on the presidential website. Yermak, who traveled to the U.S. as part of a Ukrainian delegation, met with senior American officials to bolster support for Ukraine's defense and humanitarian priorities. He said Ukraine urgently needs stronger air defense capabilities. Hours later, 19 people were injured in a Russian drone strike on the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. Those hurt included children, a pregnant woman, and a 93-year-old woman, regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov wrote on Telegram. At around 1:05 a.m., Shahed-type drones struck two apartment buildings in the city's Slobidskyi district, causing fires and destroying several private vehicles. 'By launching attacks while people sleep in their homes, the enemy once again confirms its tactic of insidious terror,' Syniehubov wrote on Telegram. Russian aircraft also dropped four powerful glide bombs on the southern city of Kherson, injuring at least three people, regional authorities said. Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here .
National Post
4 hours ago
- National Post
Putin strikes Ukraine after Trump call, killing 1-year-old and four others
At least five people, including a 1-year-old child, his mother and grandmother, were killed Thursday in a nighttime Russian drone strike that hit the northern Ukrainian city of Pryluky, officials said. Article content Six drones hit a residential area in the city shortly before dawn, according to authorities. The child killed was the grandson of an emergency responder, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. Article content Article content Article content 'One of the rescuers arrived to respond to the aftermath right at his own home,' Zelenskyy said in a post on Telegram. 'It turned out that a Shahed drone hit his house.' Article content Article content The attack came just hours after U.S. President Donald Trump spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to Trump, Putin said 'very strongly' that Russia will retaliate for Ukraine's weekend stunning drone attacks on Russian military airfields. Article content The mother of the 1-year-old killed in Pryluky was a police officer called Daryna Shyhyda, Ukraine's National Police said. Article content Article content Article content Article content Six people were wounded in the Pryluky attack and are in hospital, officials said. Article content Pryluky, which had a prewar population of around 50,000 people, lies about 100 kilometers (60 miles) east of Kyiv, the capital. The city is far from the front line and does not contain any known military assets. Article content The last time Pryluky was struck was in November last year, when a Russian missile hit an administrative building and injured one person. Article content Zelenskyy said a total of 103 drones and one ballistic missile targeted multiple Ukrainian regions overnight, including Donetsk, Kharkiv, Odesa, Sumy, Chernihiv, Dnipro and Kherson. Article content 'This is another massive strike,' Zelenskyy said. 'It is yet another reason to impose the strongest possible sanctions and apply pressure collectively.' Article content Article content Zelenskyy, who has accepted a U.S. ceasefire proposal and offered to meet with Putin in an attempt to break the stalemate in negotiations, wants more international sanctions on Russia to force it to accept a settlement. Putin has shown no willingness to meet with Zelenskyy, however, and has indicated no readiness to compromise.
