Russia launches record number of drones at Ukraine after latest Trump-Putin phone call
At least 23 people were wounded in the attack, which lasted 13 hours, according to Kyiv city and military authorities. Ukraine intercepted 476 out of a record 539 Russian drones, according to the country's air force. It said Russia also launched 11 cruise and ballistic missiles.
Thousands of residents spent the night in shelters, including in subway stations or underground parking lots, as explosions and the sound of drones echoed through the city in the early hours of Friday morning.
'Absolutely horrible and sleepless night in Kyiv. One of the worst so far,' said Ukraine's Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha.
The strikes sparked fires in buildings and structures across several city districts, and partially destroying multi-story buildings, according to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine. They also destroyed part of Kyiv's railway, and damaged five ambulances that were responding to calls from those wounded.
In recent weeks, Russia has launched near-nightly air attacks on Ukraine involving hundreds of missiles and drones. Earlier this week Ukraine's foreign minister said that in June alone, Russia launched over 330 missiles, including nearly 80 ballistic missiles, 5,000 combat drones, and 5,000 gliding bombs against Ukraine.
Before Friday, the last record-setting night of attacks came just five days ago – when Russia fired 537 drones and missiles at Ukraine.
On Thursday, Trump held a nearly hour-long call with Putin and voiced frustration afterward about the stalled ceasefire negotiations.
'We had a call. It was a pretty long call. We talked about a lot of things, including Iran and we also talked about, as you know, the war with Ukraine,' Trump said. 'I'm not happy about that.'
Asked if he felt he made progress with Putin on a deal with Ukraine, Trump said firmly: 'No.' He added, 'I didn't make any progress with him today at all.'
Trump said he would speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky early Friday morning, saying he was 'very disappointed' with his conversation with Putin, whom he believes is 'not looking to stop' the war.
The strikes come as the Trump administration pauses some weapons shipments to Ukraine, including air defense missiles, following a review of military spending and American support to foreign countries.
Trump acknowledged said that the decision had been made to protect US stockpiles.
The US has been the biggest single donor of military aid to Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, supplying Ukraine with air defense systems, drones, rocket launchers, radars, tanks and anti-armor weapons, leading to concerns over dwindling US stockpiles.
But the balance of aid to Ukraine has changed significantly since Trump returned to power, casting doubt over the future of US support for Kyiv.
Trump and Putin did not discuss the pause in shipments to Ukraine during their call, according to Russian state media TASS, citing a Kremlin aide. However, Trump brought up ending the war 'as early as possible' – to which Putin responded that Russia would not 'back down' from its war goals in Ukraine, according to TASS.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Forbes
35 minutes ago
- Forbes
Trump Signs The Bill Today: 4 Winners Of The New ‘Big Beautiful Bill
Today Trump Signs His 'Big Beautiful Bill' Into Law: 4 Huge Winners; Image U.S. President Donald ... More Trump speaks to guests from the South Portico of the White House (Photo by) Less than six months after taking office, President Donald Trump notches a huge win for his presidency and his legislative agenda. What Trump has dubbed his 'big, beautiful bill' passed both chambers of congress and is on its way to his desk for signature. Despite exposing rifts within the GOP over Medicaid and food stamp cuts, the bill—which solidifies Trump's tax cuts and provides billions for immigration enforcement—has passed. And, despite breaking against Republican calls for fiscal accountability, the big, beautiful bill— which raises the nation's debt limit by $5 trillion—made it across the finish line before President Trump's self-imposed July 4 deadline. Here are some of the biggest winners. Trump gets a huge win with the big, beautiful bill. This bill makes many of President Trump's campaign promises a reality. The big beautiful bill passing is a big, beautiful legislative win for Trump and will be part of his legacy. Not only did Donald Trump get this bill passed through both chambers of congress, he got it done before his self-imposed July 4 deadline. This was no small feat and speaks volumes to the power he wields over his party and his ability to persuade and lead people to action. As late as Wednesday, there remained several GOP holdouts to the bill, but after meeting with the president at the White House, many shared that they had been persuaded to vote for the bill despite their doubts and hesitations. For all the controversy over Trump's leadership style and communication methods, one thing is sure. He gets the results he wants and has demonstrated a keen ability to move people to action. Trump has an unusual ability to compel others—including many of his fiercest critics—to get in line and back him and his vision and agenda. Despite threats by Elon Musk to primary any republican who voted for the big, beautiful bill, congress moved forward with passage. Donald Trump has succeeded at getting his party (in both chambers) to deliver him a win on his 'big, beautiful bill.' And they did so despite openly complaining and expressing regret for many individual components and the near $4 trillion-dollar price tag of the bill. This is a clear win for Trump and represents the president's signature domestic achievement thus far. Corporations, small businesses and manufacturers win big in Trump's big, beautiful bill. The 2017 Tax Cut and Jobs Act provided many tax breaks to corporate America. When Trumps signs the big, beautiful bill into law, these corporate benefits will become permanent. Trillions of dollars in corporate tax cuts (first enacted by Trump in 2017) as well as expansions on other business tax breaks will become permanent. According to NBC News, this includes Big business groups come out as big winners now that the bill has passed in congress. This legislation allows businesses to continue writing off the cost of equipment in the first year that it was purchased. It also will reinstate the ability for businesses to write off expenses for research and development in the year they are incurred. PBS News reports that manufacturing companies will benefit from provisions in the law that will allow them to 'fully and immediately deduct the costs of new manufacturing plants' and are incentivized to produce semi productors. High-income earners win when Trump signs the big, beautiful bill. Trump's big, beautiful bill expands the cap on deducible state and local taxes from $10,000 to $40,000 for taxpayers. The big beautiful bill has finally accomplished what many conservatives have strived for over decades. Chris Stein with The Guardian expresses it this way, The celebratory bill signage for Trump's big beautiful bill. No congressional Democrats voted for the big beautiful bill, but that did not matter because after all was said and done, Republicans—mostly united—stepped up and delivered this win for their party and for President Donald Trump. The president will sign the bill into law at 5 p.m. EDT on Friday, and he's doing it up big. Thursday, Trump told reporters flying with him on Air Force One that, "we'll be signing with those beautiful planes flying right over our heads.' Recommended reading: How Long Will The Federal Hiring Freeze Last? Implications For Government Employees Can Trump Dissolve USAID? 10,000 Jobs Hang In The Balance Trump Signs Order Ending Remote Work; Mandates Federal Workers Return To Office
36 minutes ago
American bombs in Iran also reverberate in China and North Korea
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- President Donald Trump campaigned on keeping the United States out of foreign wars, but it didn't take long to convince him to come to the direct aid of Israel, hitting Iranian nuclear targets with bunker-buster bombs dropped by B-2 stealth bombers and Tomahawk cruise missiles fired from a submarine. Beyond the attack's immediate impact on helping bring the 12-day war to a close, experts say Trump's decision to use force against another country also will certainly be reverberating in the Asia-Pacific, Washington's priority theater. 'Trump's strikes on Iran show that he's not afraid to use military force — this would send a clear message to North Korea, and even to China and Russia, about Trump's style,' said Duyeon Kim, a senior analyst at the Center for a New American Security based in Seoul, South Korea. 'Before the strikes, Pyongyang and Beijing might have assumed that Trump is risk averse, particularly based on his behavior his first presidency despite some tough talk," Kim said. Ten days into the war between Israel and Iran, Trump made the risky decision to step in, hitting three nuclear sites with American firepower on June 22 in a bid to destroy the country's nuclear program at a time while negotiations between Washington and Tehran were still ongoing. The attacks prompted a pro forma Iranian retaliatory strike the following day on a U.S. base in nearby Qatar, which caused no casualties, and both Iran and Israel then agreed to a ceasefire on June 24. North Korea, China and Russia all were quick to condemn the American attack, with Russian President Vladimir Putin calling it 'unprovoked aggression,' China's Foreign Ministry saying it violated international law and 'exacerbated tensions in the Middle East,' and North Korea's Foreign Ministry maintaining it 'trampled down the territorial integrity and security interests of a sovereign state.' While the strikes were a clear tactical success, the jury is still out on whether they will have a more broad strategic benefit to Washington's goals in the Middle East or convince Iran it needs to work harder than ever to develop a nuclear deterrent, possibly pulling the U.S. back into a longer-term conflict. If the attack remains a one-off strike, U.S. allies in the Asia-Pacific region likely will see the decision to become involved as a positive sign from Trump's administration, said Euan Graham, a senior defense analyst with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. 'The U.S. strike on Iran will be regarded as net plus by Pacific allies if it is seen to reinforce red lines, restore deterrence and is of limited duration, so as not to pull the administration off-course from its stated priorities in the Indo-Pacific,' he said. 'China will take note that Trump is prepared to use force, at least opportunistically.' In China, many who have seen Trump as having a 'no-war mentality' will reassess that in the wake of the attacks, which were partially aimed at forcing Iran's hand in nuclear program negotiations, said Zhao Minghao, an international relations professor at China's Fudan University in Shanghai. 'The way the U.S. used power with its air attacks against Iran is something China needs to pay attention to,' he said. 'How Trump used power to force negotiations has a significance for how China and the U.S. will interact in the future.' But, he said, Washington should not think it can employ the same strategy with Beijing. 'If a conflict breaks out between China and the U.S., it may be difficult for the U.S. to withdraw as soon as possible, let alone withdraw unscathed,' he said. Indeed, China and North Korea present very different challenges than Iran. First and foremost, both already have nuclear weapons, raising the stakes of possible retaliation considerably in the event of any attack. There also is no Asian equivalent of Israel, whose relentless attacks on Iranian missile defenses in the opening days of the war paved the way for the B-2 bombers to fly in and out without a shot being fired at them. Still, the possibility of the U.S. becoming involved in a conflict involving either China or North Korea is a very real one, and Beijing and Pyongyang will almost certainly try to assess what the notoriously unpredictable Trump would do. North Korea will likely be 'quite alarmed' at what Israel, with a relatively small but high-quality force, has been able to achieve over Iran, said Joseph Dempsey, a defense expert with the International Institute for Strategic Studies. At the same time, it likely will be seen internally as justification for its own nuclear weapons program, 'If Iran did have deployable nuclear weapons would this have occurred?' Dempsey said. 'Probably not.' The U.S. decision to attack while still in talks with Iran will also not go unnoticed, said Hong Min, a senior analyst at South Korea's Institute for National Unification. 'North Korea may conclude that dialogue, if done carelessly, could backfire by giving the United States a pretext for possible aggression,' he said. 'Instead of provoking the Trump administration, North Korea is more likely to take an even more passive stance toward negotiations with Washington, instead focusing on strengthening its internal military buildup and pursuing closer ties with Russia, narrowing the prospects for future talks," he said. China will look at the attacks through the visor of Taiwan, the self-governing democratic island off its coast that China claims as its own territory and President Xi Jinping has not ruled out taking by force. The U.S. supplies Taiwan with weapons and is one of its most important allies, though Washington's official policy on whether it would come to Taiwan's aid in the case of a conflict with China is known as 'strategic ambiguity," meaning not committing to how it would respond. Militarily, the strike on Iran raises the question of whether the U.S. might show less restraint than has been expected by China in its response and hit targets on the Chinese mainland in the event of an invasion of Taiwan, said Drew Thompson, senior fellow with the Singapore-based think tank RSIS Rajaratnam School of International Studies. It will also certainly underscore for Beijing the 'difficulty of predicting Trump's actions,' he said. "The U.S. airstrike on Iran's nuclear facilities caught many by surprise," Thompson said. "I think it demonstrated a tolerance and acceptance of risk in the Trump administration that is perhaps surprising.' It also gives rise to a concern that Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te, who in recent speeches has increased warnings about the threat from China, may be further emboldened in his rhetoric, said Lyle Goldstein, director of the Asia Program at the Washington-based foreign policy think tank Defense Priorities. Already, Lai's words have prompted China to accuse him of pursuing Taiwanese independence, which is a red line for Beijing. Goldstein said he worried Taiwan may try to take advantage of the American 'use of force against Iran to increase its deterrent situation versus the mainland.' 'President Lai's series of recent speeches appear almost designed to set up a new cross-strait crisis, perhaps in the hopes of building more support in Washington and elsewhere around the Pacific,' said Goldstein, who also is director of the China Initiative at Brown University's Watson Institute. 'I think that is an exceedingly risky gambit, to put it mildly," he said.
42 minutes ago
Top EU officials head to Moldova for summit ahead of pivotal parliamentary election
BUCHAREST, Romania -- The European Union's top officials will travel to Moldova's capital on Friday for a key bilateral summit to strengthen ties months before the EU candidate member holds a pivotal parliamentary election. Moldova's pro-Western President Maia Sandu and Prime Minister Dorin Recean will host the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Council President António Costa in Chisinau. Talks will focus on EU membership, security and trade. The leaders are expected to issue a joint statement afterward. Brussels agreed to open accession negotiations with Moldova for EU membership last year after granting official candidate status in June 2022, the same day as neighboring Ukraine. Some observers say Hungary's opposition to Ukraine's EU membership could hamper Moldova's progress, since both countries' applications are being processed concurrently. 'Moldova is now at the most advanced stage of European integration in its modern history,' said Daniel Voda, Moldova's government spokesperson. 'The path toward the EU has become clear, irreversible, and politically embraced at the highest level.' Brussels is keen to reaffirm its commitment to Moldova joining the 27-nation bloc with the approach of a parliamentary election Sep. 28. Allegations continue to circulate about Russia conducting a 'hybrid war' against the former Soviet republic by interfering in elections and spreading disinformation. Moldova's pro-Western government led by the Party of Action and Solidarity, or PAS, has been in power since 2021. Moldova watchers have warned the upcoming parliamentary vote is in Moscow's crosshairs. The summit's agenda states EU leaders will reiterate their 'unwavering commitment' to Moldova's sovereignty and security in the face of 'Russia's continued hybrid attacks.' Moscow has denied meddling in Moldova. Radu Magdin, a political analyst at Smartlink Communications, said the joint summit is 'of top symbolic importance' and could bolster support for PAS in the upcoming elections. 'The elections are pivotal, as a PAS government majority or a PAS-led coalition can be more credible for Brussels in terms of genuine intention of reform,' he said. 'The main threats to Moldova's accession process is any EU state opposition to Ukraine's entry.' Moldova's membership in the EU is conditional on the country enacting reforms in policy areas, known as chapters, in areas such as the rule of law, fundamental rights and economic reforms, a process that will likely take years. To support such reforms, Brussels is providing Moldova with up to 1.9 billion euros (about $2.2 billion) between 2025 and 2027. 'EU accession is not just a destination,' said Voda, the government spokesperson. 'It's a profound change for the benefit of the people.' President Sandu was reelected in a heated election last year that saw her beat a Russia-friendly opponent in an election cycle beleaguered by claims of Russian interference and voter fraud. Moldovans last year also voted narrowly in favor of securing the country's EU path.
