Putin steps up Ukrainian bombing in clearest sign yet he plans to IGNORE Trump's ceasefire deadline - after US president proposed three-way meeting with Zelensky
Video footage shows the Kremlin's forces in a fresh strike on a key bridge in Kherson, which it has failed to dislodge in six massive aerial attacks, in a clear hint that Putin may ignore Trump's deadlines to end the war.
The blitzing of the key crossing in the Korabelny district of the city comes as Russian war channels suggest sabotage groups will seek to capture this major city close to the frontline, a claim strongly disputed by Ukraine.
Separate footage shows Shahed-2 drones striking the Dnipropetrovsk region, where four were injured, including a woman, 69.
Putin's forces also killed at least three Ukrainians in Nikopol, including Danylo Khizhnyak, a 23-year-old rescuer who ran to help after the first strike, in a deliberate attack on first responders, despite the talks with Trump during envoy Steve Witkoff's visit to Moscow.
Separately, the Russians killed a 62-year-old civilian woman in Huliaipole, near the frontline in the Zaporizhzhia region.
And Moscow released visuals of this week's joint war games with China - Maritime Interaction-2025 - in which the two repressive states conducted artillery combat on a 'simulated enemy' in a show of strength to the West.
On Thursday, it was confirmed that US president Donald Trump will meet with Putin in the coming days. The news was confirmed by Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov. So far, there is no confirmation on where the summit will take place.
Earlier, when asked if Putin may be fooling him, the US president replied: 'Can't answer the question yet. I'll tell you in a matter of weeks, maybe less. But we made a lot of progress.'
Meanwhile, he vowed more sanctions against countries trading oil with Russia to fund Putin's war machine.
'We did it with India, we're doing it probably with a couple of others. One of them could be China,' said Trump.
But he cautioned that the progress made was not a 'breakthrough'. His secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said many obstacles still needed to be overcome.
Ukraine sought to increase pressure on Putin with precision strikes on key military and strategic targets in overnight action.
Volodymyr Zelensky's forces reportedly hit a Russian military unit in Slavyansk-na-Kubani in Krasnodar region.
'Eyewitnesses observe a fire in the area of the military unit,' said a report.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday called for a face-to-face meeting with Vladimir Putin to end the war and said he has spoken to Trump
Reports said the strike was against military unit 61661. A spectacular and 'massive' inferno was burning at Afipsky Refinery in the same region after 6am explosions which 'rocked the facility, with flames lighting up the sky'.
It is one of the largest refineries in southern Russia. Ukraine also targeted air defence units near Kerch in occupied Crimea, according to reports.
And they hit the Surovikino railway station, triggering a fire in the Volgograd region, where a temporary airport closure was enforced. This was another in a series of recent strikes aimed at disrupting Putin's rail transport system, especially involving military cargoes.
Earlier, unmanned boats were reported to be attacking key port Novorossiysk, in Krasnodar region. Russia claimed to have 'repelled' the 4am attack, but there was no independent verification.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday called for a face-to-face meeting with Vladimir Putin to end the war, after Donald Trump's special envoy held talks with the Russian leader in Moscow.
Although Trump hailed conversations between his envoy Steve Witkoff and Putin as 'highly productive', US officials still vowed to impose sanctions on Moscow's trading partners.
Zelensky said later that he had spoken by phone with Trump, who said he could meet with Putin 'very soon,' and that European leaders had been on the call.
'We in Ukraine have repeatedly said that finding real solutions can be truly effective at the level of leaders,' Zelensky wrote on social media.
'It is necessary to determine the timing for such a format and the range of issues to be addressed,' he added.
The Ukrainian leader said Thursday morning that he had planned to hold 'several' conversations throughout the course of the day, including with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, as well as French and Italian officials.
It comes as a new study published on Thursday showed that Ukrainians are eager for a peace deal to end the war.
However, according to the Gallup poll, only about a quarter say they expect a ceasefire within the next 12 months. The new outlook is a sharp contrast to 2022, when people in the country said they wanted to keep fighting Russia.
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