Russia launches massive attacks; Trump backtracks from suggestion Ukraine should target Moscow
A child was among at least two people were killed and 25 people were injured in the strikes on six regions in northern, central and southern Ukraine, according to a statement on Telegram from the country's air force and data collated by regional military administrations.
The large-scale long-range attacks targeted energy infrastructure, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X. Power was cut for 80,000 families in his hometown of Kryvyi Rih and other locations in the Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine's largest private energy company DTEK said on the Telegram app.
The attacks came hours after Trump told his Ukrainian counterpart not to target Moscow. It followed a report by the Financial Times citing two people familiar with the conversation that he had encouraged Zelenskyy to step up attacks deep inside Russia.
NBC News has not independently confirmed the Financial Times' reporting, but White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt later said that Trump 'was merely asking a question, not encouraging further killing.'
Trump, who has previously lavished praise on Putin while scorning Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on Monday gave the Russian president 50 days to agree to a peace deal. During a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte at the White House, he also said that he would slap 100% tariffs on any country that buys Russian goods.
At the same time, he said, the United States would sell 'top-of-the-line weapons' including Patriot air defense missiles to NATO allies — including the much-demanded Patriot missiles — so that they can be used in Ukraine.
On Wednesday, Trump said that the U.S. had already shipped some of the vaunted missile systems to Ukraine. 'They're coming in from Germany,' he said, adding that NATO members would 'pay us back for everything.'
However, the 50-day window has been criticized by some European officials and experts, who have asked why Trump is giving additional time to Putin, who has repeatedly stated his desire to subjugate Ukraine.
And there was no let up in Russian attacks on Ukraine overnight as it bombarded several cities with around 400 drones and an Iskander ballistic missile, Ukraine's air force said.
'Russia does not change its strategy,' Zelenskyy said Wednesday in a post on Telegram, a day after a strike in his hometown in central Ukraine. 'In order to effectively counteract this terror, we need a systematic strengthening of protection: more aircraft, more interceptors, more determination to make Russia feel our answer.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
29 minutes ago
- The Independent
Zelenskyy shakes up Ukrainian Cabinet to reinvigorate war effort
A slate of fresh-faced officials is poised to take on top roles in Ukraine's government, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reshuffles the Cabinet in a bid to energize a war-weary nation and boost domestic weapons production in the face of Russia's grinding invasion. At home, however, the Cabinet recalibration has not been seen as a major shift, as the Ukrainian leader continues to rely on officials who have proven their effectiveness and loyalty during the war, now in its fourth year. Zelenskyy submitted nominations on Thursday to reshuffle top government positions, including the replacement of Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, the longest-serving head of government in Ukraine's history. Draft resolutions were registered in parliament proposing Yuliia Svyrydenko, currently the first deputy prime minister and minister of economy, as the new prime minister, and Shmyhal as defense minister, according to the parliamentary website. Other changes are expected in the Cabinet, but Svyrydenko's nomination as prime minister is taking center stage. She played a key role in negotiating a U.S.–Ukraine mineral agreement, ensuring the terms were acceptable to Kyiv. Svyrydenko has frequently represented Ukraine in high-level talks with Western partners, focusing on defense cooperation, economic recovery and reconstruction. Lawmakers and fellow officials describe her as a diligent executive with a reputation for loyalty to the presidential office. On Tuesday, Zelenskyy posted a photo with Svyrydenko and Digital Transformation Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, writing that the focus for the next six months would be increasing domestic weapons production, fully contracting all types of drones for Ukraine's defense forces, easing regulations to unlock economic potential, and ensuring delivery of social support programs. Shmyhal announced his resignation on Tuesday. He held the position for more than five years after being appointed on March 4, 2020. Ukrainian analysts and local media have rarely portrayed Shmyhal as an independent political figure or a counterweight to Zelenskyy. Like Svyrydenko, he is seen as loyal to the president and his team. His new post as defense minister means he is not leaving government entirely, but instead remains in the cabinet in a powerful role. The defense ministry commands one of the largest budgets and carries critical importance because of the war. Shmyhal will replace Rustem Umerov, who, although he sought to push reforms, saw his tenure marked by internal turbulence and persistent dysfunction in Ukraine's defense procurement system. Despite his active role on the international stage, critics said the ministry remained plagued by mismanagement.
NBC News
29 minutes ago
- NBC News
Syria steps back from ‘open war' in face of intense Israeli strikes after sectarian violence
Syria's leader accused Israel on Thursday of sowing discord with a wave of intense airstrikes following deadly sectarian clashes that threatened the country's fragile unity and illustrated its neighbor's capacity to attack across the region. In a televised speech, Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa promised to protect the rights and freedom of Syria's Druze community — and avoid an 'open war' with Israel. He said Syria"will never be a place for division or fragmentation" as he called protecting the rights of the religious minority a "priority" of his administration. His comments came after the Syrian government and leaders in the Druze community announced a renewed ceasefire Wednesday after days of clashes in the southern city of Sweida threatened the relative stability achieved in the country since the toppling of the Assad regime in December. Government forces were withdrawing from the area, the Associated Press news agency reported, though a previous ceasefire in the area quickly crumbled and it was not immediately clear whether the latest truce would hold. Israel launched rare strikes in Damascu s and elsewhere on Wednesday in a campaign it said was aimed at defending the Druze, who also have a strong presence in Israel — and to force Islamic militants away from its border. "We are not among those who fear war," Sharaa said Thursday, as he accused Israel of "targeting our stability and creating discord among us since the fall of the former regime," according to a transcript from the Reuters news agency. 'But we put the interests of the Syrians before chaos and destruction," he said, adding that local factions and sheikhs had been assigned the responsibility of maintaining security in Sweida. 'We are very worried about the violence in southern Syria," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday, calling it a "direct threat to efforts to help build a peaceful and stable Syria." He added that the Trump administration had "been and remain in repeated and constant talks with the governments of Syria and Israel on this matter.' The flare-up of violence appears to mark the most serious threat yet to the fragile control Syria's new leadership holds over the country following dictator Bashar al-Assad's ouster, with repeated eruptions of violence threatening to undermine Sharaa's vow to rebuild a more inclusive Syri a representative of its myriad religious and ethnic groups. Sharaa has worked hard in recent months to shake off his past as a jihadist leader with links to both the Islamic State terrorist group and Al Qaeda. The Trump administration's move to revoke the foreign terrorist organization designation for his Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham group signaled growing, but cautious, global confidence in his leadership.
NBC News
29 minutes ago
- NBC News
Russian attack on Ukraine's energy infrastructure injures at least 15
KYIV, Ukraine — Russia pounded four Ukrainian cities overnight into Wednesday, injuring at least 15 people in an attack that mostly targeted energy infrastructure, officials said. The latest bombardment in Russia's escalating aerial campaign against civilian areas came ahead of a Sept. 2 deadline set by President Donald Trump for the Kremlin to reach a peace deal in the three-year war, under the threat of possible severe Washington sanctions if it doesn't. No date has yet been publicly set for a possible third round of direct peace talks between delegations from Russia and Ukraine. Two previous rounds delivered no progress apart from prisoner swaps. Russia launched 400 Shahed and decoy drones, as well as one ballistic missile, during the night, the Ukrainian air force said. The strikes targeted northeastern Kharkiv, which is Ukraine's second-largest city, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's hometown of Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine, Vinnytsia in the west and Odesa in the south. 'Russia does not change its strategy,' Zelenskyy said. 'To effectively counter this terror, we need a systemic strengthening of defense: more air defense, more interceptors, and more resolve so that Russia feels our response.' Trump on Monday pledged to deliver more weapons to Ukraine, including vital Patriot air defense systems, and threatened to slap additional sanctions on Russia. It was Trump's toughest stance toward Russian President Vladimir Putin since he returned to the White House nearly six months ago. But some U.S. lawmakers and European government officials expressed misgivings that the 50-day deadline handed Putin the opportunity to capture more Ukrainian territory before any settlement to end the fighting. Other U.S. ultimatums to Putin in recent months have failed to persuade the Russian leader to stop his invasion of neighboring Ukraine. Tens of thousands of soldiers have been killed in the war, many of them along the more than 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, and Russian barrages of cities have killed more than 12,000 Ukrainian civilians, the United Nations says. The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington think tank, said Tuesday that 'Putin holds a theory of victory that posits that Russia can achieve its war aims by continuing to make creeping gains on the battlefield indefinitely and outlasting Western support for Ukraine and Ukraine's ability to defend itself.' Trump said the U.S. is providing additional weapons for Ukraine but European countries are paying for them. While Ukraine and European officials were relieved at the U.S. commitment after months of hesitation, some hoped Washington might shoulder some of the cost. 'We welcome President Trump's announcement to send more weapons to Ukraine, although we would like to see the U.S share the burden,' European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Tuesday. 'If we pay for these weapons, it's our support.' In Brussels on Wednesday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed that the European Union set aside 100 billion euros ($116 billion) in aid for Ukraine as part of the bloc's long-term budget. The proposed sum, which requires approval by the 27 EU member nations and the European Parliament, is to help Ukraine's war-battered economy as the country strives for EU membership. The money won't be spent on military support.
