Russia Launches 85 Drones, Missile At Ukraine Hours After Putin-Trump Alaska Talks
Russia launched a major aerial assault on Ukraine overnight, just hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump concluded high-level talks in Alaska aimed at ending the ongoing war.
According to Ukraine's air force, the attack involved 85 Shahed-type drones and an Iskander-M ballistic missile.
The strikes targeted various areas across the country, including the frontline regions, from the evening of August 15 into the early hours of August 16, the same night the Putin-Trump summit took place.
Ukraine's air defences successfully shot down 61 of the drones, officials said on Saturday, but several still managed to hit their targets, causing damage and disruption in multiple areas.
The overnight attacks came shortly after the Alaska summit ended without any clear breakthrough in halting Russia's invasion, which began in February 2022. While both leaders expressed a desire to move toward peace, no ceasefire agreement was reached.
In addition to the aerial strikes, Russia claimed further advances on the battlefield. Moscow's defence ministry announced that its forces had captured the village of Kolodyazi in the eastern Donetsk region. It also claimed control over Vorone in the Dnipropetrovsk region, although Ukrainian-linked monitoring sites indicated that Russian troops were still some distance away from the village.
Russia's war in Ukraine has now lasted for over three years, with large parts of eastern and southern Ukraine remaining under Russian occupation. Thousands of people have been killed, and millions displaced since the conflict began.
(With inputs from AFP)
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