US issues security alert for Kiev
The US Embassy in Kiev has advised Americans not to ignore air-raid sirens and to shelter appropriately, warning of 'a continued risk of significant air attacks,' in a new security alert issued on Wednesday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin 'did say, and very strongly, that he will have to respond' to recent Ukrainian attacks on airfields hosting Russian strategic bombers, US President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday evening, revealing details of their unannounced conversation that day.
The US State Department issued the security alert just hours earlier, advising Americans currently in Ukraine to 'identify shelter locations in advance' and to 'keep reserves of water, food, and medication.'
'Russia has increased the intensity of its missile and drone attacks against Ukraine in recent weeks, and there is currently a continued risk of significant air attacks,' the advisory stated.
On Monday, Ukrainian drones struck multiple Russian airbases in a coordinated assault targeting long-range, nuclear-capable bombers. Moscow said most of the incoming drones were intercepted, without confirming any losses or staging any immediate military response. Kiev also targeted multiple Russian civilian sites over the weekend, killing at least seven people and injuring over 120, in what Moscow branded as terrorism.
Putin on Wednesday described the railway sabotage incidents in Russia's Bryansk and Kursk regions as 'undoubtedly a terrorist act' committed by the 'illegitimate regime in Kiev,' which he said 'is gradually turning into a terrorist organization.'
According to top foreign policy adviser Yury Ushakov, Putin informed Trump that all these attacks were intended to derail direct talks between Moscow and Kiev – the second round of which took place in Istanbul on Monday.
The two leaders agreed to continue contacts on Ukraine, both at the highest level and through other channels. Trump described the phone call as 'a good conversation,' though he noted it was 'not the one that will lead to immediate peace.'
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