Trump ‘underinformed' on Ukrainian strikes against Russian civilians
US President Donald Trump is apparently unaware of the Ukrainian 'terrorist attacks' on Russian civilians that prompted retaliation from Moscow, Yury Ushakov, a top foreign policy adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin, has suggested.
Trump has rebuked Moscow twice this week over its strikes against Ukraine, claiming that Putin had 'gone absolutely crazy' as he fired 'missiles and drones into cities in Ukraine for no reason whatsoever.' Later, he warned that his Russian counterpart is 'playing with fire.'
In an interview released on Wednesday, Ushakov told journalist Pavel Zarubin that the Kremlin is aware of Trump's criticism, but suggested that the US president 'is not sufficiently informed about what is really happening in the context of the Russia-Ukraine confrontation.'
In particular, Ushakov stated that Trump seemingly had not been briefed on 'the increase in massive terrorist attacks carried out by Ukraine against peaceful Russian cities.'
'Trump knows only about the retaliatory measures we are taking,' he said, stressing that Russia's strikes target 'only military infrastructure or defense industry facilities.'
Ukraine has drastically ramped up drone strikes deep into Russia in recent weeks in what Moscow says is an effort to derail the ongoing peace process. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, more than 2,300 Ukrainian drones have been intercepted over the past week, mostly away from the front line. On Wednesday, Ukraine also launched a drone raid on Moscow and its suburbs, with a total of 42 UAVs taken down. The assault resulted in damage to residential buildings but no casualties were reported.
In retaliation, Moscow carried out a series of high-precision strikes across Ukraine, targeting drone production sites, warehouses, airfields, radar stations and ammunition depots. Russian officials have consistently stated that such attacks never target civilians.
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