Putin ignores Donald Trump's plea for peace and launches overnight blitz on Ukraine
Harrowing images showed the extent of an overnight attack in Ukraine which resulted in several fatalities. The nightmare explosions took place despite Donald Trump telling Russia to 'stop'
Dictator Vladimir Putin has ignored Donald Trump's calls for peace and instead launched another deadly blitz in Ukraine - sparking casualties and destruction.
The Russian leader used kamikaze drones to strike the city of Kharkiv, with a series of explosions. The devastating explosions saw an apartment block hit by the strikes in Pavlohrad, with pictures revealing the extent of the horror blaze.
Sadly, the nightmare attack comes just one day after a dozen innocent people were killed, and more than 90 were left injured in Kyiv. US leader, Trump, earlier pleaded with Russia to halt the attacks. Despite his warning, three people, including a child and an elderly woman, aged 76, were killed in Pavlohrad, located in central east Ukraine.
Eight more were wounded, with six hospitalised following the collapse of the apartment building. Another four died and six were wounded in the Russian shelling of Donetsk and Kherson regions.
Head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional military administration, Serhiy Lysak, addressed the deaths and said: "In Pavlohrad, according to updated data, two people died,' said head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional military administration, Serhiy Lysak.
'Six injured people were hospitalised. One patient is in a 'serious' condition….two more people were provided with medical assistance on the spot. Among them is a 15-year-old girl.'
Later it emerged a child had also died in Putin's terror strike. The latest bloodshed came hours after Trump issued a rare 'Stop, Vladimir!' censure after which the White House leader was asked: 'You told Putin to stop the attacks - do you think he will listen to you?' Trump replied: 'I'm confident.'
Kharkiv mayor Ihor Terekhov said: 'As of now, five strikes have been recorded in Kharkiv. There are several strikes on enterprises, as a result of which there are fires.'
Russia claimed a chemical plant - Ukrpromkhim - was damaged. 'As a result of the latest strikes, several private houses have been damaged,' said the mayor.
Ukraine said it downed 41 out of 103 enemy drones overnight. Inside Russia, wooden churches and chapels known as New Jerusalem burned to ashes after what the authorities said was the dropping of explosives devices from a Ukrainian drone.
Footage showed the religious buildings ablaze. 'The Ukrainian Armed Forces did not allow rescuers to extinguish the building, constantly attacking it with drones,' said a Russian report.
Two Russian servicemen were killed and five more wounded in the village of Kryukovo, Belgorod region, according to reports. Ukrainian drones overnight attacked two airfields in Crimea in a massive kamikaze swarm.
The damage was not yet clear but Russia said it had shot down 59 drones. Ukraine also struck Shuya in the Ivanovo region, where the 112th missile brigade is located, for the third time recently.
The head of Ukrainian military intelligence, Lt-Gen Kyrylo Budanov, said it was this brigade that struck Sumy on April 13, killing 35 people and injuring more than 100.
Putin's rebuff to Trump came as Putin is today expected to hold more talks in Moscow with the US president's special envoy Steve Witkoff, who has arrived in the Russian capital.
Equally, Trump insisted that Putin's savage blitzing of the Ukrainian capital did not mean the Kremlin dictator was against peace. "We are putting a lot of pressure on Russia, and Russia knows it. It takes two to tango, just like it takes two to make a deal," the president said. 'Stopping the war, stopping from taking the whole country [Ukraine], pretty big concession."
Putin's leading TV propagandist Vladimir Solovyov said the new warm relations between Moscow and Washington should see them gang up jointly on the 'idiots' in Europe including Britain.
'As expected, Zelensky actually disrupted the [Ukraine peace deal] meeting in London,' he said. "Although we realise that, of course, it was not Zelensky at all. He was following the instructions of the Europeans.
'After that, the French said something about Ukraine's territorial integrity being sacred to them. The British are behind all this. But another thing is important. It is important that while they are united against America, maybe we should unite with America. And hit Europe so hard that it will not be a big deal? That would put the idiots in their place.'
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