Ukraine-Russia war latest: Trump warns Putin he is ‘playing with fire' with unprecedented drone bombardment
Russia says its air defences destroyed or intercepted well over 100 Ukrainian drones far into the night over widely separated areas of Russia, including a swarm of drones repelled while headed for Moscow, officials said early today.
The raid forced the closure of two airports serving the Russian capital – Vnukovo and Zhukovsky. Ukraine 's attack came after Russia launched the heaviest drone bombardment of the war so far, launching more than 900 over a three-day period that ended early Monday morning.
That attack saw US president Donald Trump brand Vladimir Putin"absolutely crazy", and the Kremlin responded by saying the US president was being "emotional".
Earlier, Russia said it had agreed a prisoner exchange with the US involving nine detainees from each side. Putin's foreign minister said the deal was discussed on the phone call between Trump and Putin last week, and he praised the US president as a man "who wants results".
Donald Trump grows angrier as Vladimir Putin exposes his impotence
As Washington settled in for a typically sleepy Memorial Day following the passage of Donald Trump 's 'big, beautiful bill' in the House, the president fired off one of his trademark furious rants on Truth Social, but the target was a surprise.
This time, the target wasn't any of his domestic political foes — like the Democrats who voted in lockstep against the budget package he endorsed, or the handful of Republicans who refused to fall into line. It wasn't even aimed at the various law enforcement figures who have attempted to hold him to account over the years.
Sunday evening's rant was aimed squarely at Russian President Vladimir Putin. Despite what he called a 'very good relationship' with Putin, Trump in his latest statement on the Ukraine -Russia war blasted the Russian leader as 'absolutely crazy.'
Donald Trump grows angrier as Vladimir Putin exposes his impotence
Analysis: Russia's latest deadly offensive also did clear damage to Donald Trump's ego, writes John Bowden
Arpan Rai28 May 2025 06:58
US snaps at Russia for stoking World War fears: 'Reckless comment'
US president Donald Trump's envoy Keith Kellogg has scolded a top Russian official for stoking fears of a Third World War.
Mr Trump took to Truth Social and said Vladimir Putin was "playing with fire" and cautioned that "REALLY BAD" things would have happened already to Russia if it was not for Mr Trump himself.
"What Vladimir Putin doesn't realise is that if it weren't for me, lots of really bad things would have already happened in Russia, and I mean REALLY BAD. He's playing with fire," Mr Trump said in a Truth Social post yesterday.
Responding to Mr Trump, top Russian security official Dmitry Medvedev said: "Regarding Trump's words about Putin 'playing with fire' and 'really bad things' happening to Russia. I only know of one REALLY BAD thing – WWIII. I hope Trump understands this!" Mr Medvedev wrote in a post on X.
US envoy Keith Kellogg quoted Mr Medvedev's post and called it reckless.
"Stoking fears of WW III is an unfortunate, reckless comment... and unfitting of a world power," Mr Kellogg said on X.
"President Trump @POTUS is working to stop this war and end the killing. We await receipt of RU Memorandum (Term Sheet) that you promised a week ago. Cease fire now,' he said.
Arpan Rai28 May 2025 06:53
Germany hosts Zelensky today for bilateral talks
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to arrive in Berlin today for talks with German chancellor Friedrich Merz.
According to a statement, Mr Merz will receive Mr Zelensky with military honours at the Federal Chancellery at noon (10am GMT).
The newly-inducted German chancellor has ramped up the country's efforts to help Ukraine fight back against Russian aggression, aligning his efforts with those of the British and the French governments.
On Monday, Mr Merz said his country and other major allies are no longer imposing any range restrictions on weapons supplied to Ukraine as it fights the Russian invasion.
It was unclear whether this represented a change in policy.
Germany has been the second-biggest supplier of military aid to Ukraine after the United States since the full-scale war began in February 2022.
Arpan Rai28 May 2025 06:29
US says Russia should focus on ending war, not Trump's social media
Russia should focus less on president Donald Trump's social media posts and more on ending its war against Ukraine, US state department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said last night.
"If the Russians cared about the nature of how [peace efforts are] proceeding, they would be thinking less about [the president's statements] and more about what they could do – which is in their hands – to stop the carnage and the slaughter that's happening right now," Ms Bruce said in a press briefing.
The remarks from the US state department come shortly after the Kremlin blamed Mr Trump's recent remarks on Vladimir Putin on 'emotional overload'.
Mr Trump said the Russian president had gone 'absolutely crazy' after the weekend bombardment of Ukraine that killed at least 12 people.
Arpan Rai28 May 2025 05:58
'Ample evidence' Russia preparing fresh offensive despite talk of ceasefire, claims Zelensky
After days of unprecedented Russian aerial attacks on Ukraine, involving more than 900 missiles and drones, Mr Zelensky claimed Kyiv had obtained intelligence suggesting Moscow was on the brink of a new push.
'We can see from the information obtained by intelligence and from open-source data that Vladimir Putin and his entourage do not plan to end the war,' the Ukrainian president said in his nightly address on Monday.
'There is currently no indication that they are seriously considering peace or diplomacy. On the contrary, there is ample evidence that they are preparing new offensive operations.'
Russian troops have increased their attacks in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region in recent weeks, targeting an area 30 miles long between the two cities of Pokrovsk and Kostiantynivka, analysts tracking the front line have told The Independent.
Russia preparing fresh offensive despite talk of ceasefire, claims Zelensky
Russia's foreign ministry says it is working on a peace proposal to be sent to Ukraine, but Kyiv suggests Moscow is simultaneously planning a major new offensive
Arpan Rai28 May 2025 05:50
Russian bots turn on 'clown' Trump after his comments against Putin
Russian bots are piling on president Donald Trump, and calling him a 'clown,' after he publicly criticised Russian president Vladimir Putin over the war in Ukraine.
Nearly 1,000 posts ridiculing Trump have popped up on the Russian social media platform VKontakte since Sunday, after Trump vented that the Russian leader had gone 'absolutely CRAZY' and was 'needlessly killing a lot of people' in Ukraine.
The pro-government accounts have accused Trump of having dementia, Newsweek reported, citing investigative Russian news outlet Agentstvo.
Russian bots turn on 'clown' Donald Trump after he rips Putin over war in Ukraine
Nearly 1,000 posts ridiculing Trump have popped up on Russian social media since the U.S. President shared critical comments on Putin's war.
Arpan Rai28 May 2025 05:46
Putin's reluctance will prolong Ukraine war, warns Germany's Merz
The war in Ukraine is expected to persist due to Russia's reluctance to enter negotiations, Germany's chancellor Friedrich Merz said.
"Wars typically end because of economic or military exhaustion on one side or on both sides and in this war we are obviously still far from reaching that (situation)", Mr Merz said at a joint press conference with Finnish prime minister Petteri Orpo in Turku.
"So we may have to prepare for a longer duration," Mr Merz added.
Arpan Rai28 May 2025 05:41
Trump says Putin avoided 'really bad things' — thanks to him
Donald Trump has warned Russian President Vladimir Putin that he is 'playing with fire' following a barrage of Russian drone and missile attacks across Ukraine.
The U.S. president also suggested Russia has avoided 'really bad things' — thanks to him.
'What Vladimir Putin doesn't realize is that if it weren't for me, lots of really bad things would have already happened to Russia, and I mean REALLY BAD,' Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday.
'He's playing with fire!'
Trump's latest post draws criticism that he has been 'shielding' Putin, even as he ramps up public criticism of Ukraine war
Arpan Rai28 May 2025 05:29
Russia accuses Finland of provocation over Baltic Sea drills
Russia's foreign ministry has accused Finland of escalating tensions by carrying out pre-organised naval drills, a week after two of Moscow's fighter jets reportedly violated Finnish airspace.
Maria Zakharova, Russia's foreign ministry spokesperson, claimed Finland's current naval operations were 'becoming a tool of Nato escalation near Russia's border'. It is not unusual for Moscow to make baseless claims like this.
She was referring to Finland's Exercise Narrow Waters 25, the country's annual spring exercise. It was formerly a national exercise but has been developed into an international exercise to include Sweden, Germany and Estonia, following Finland's accession to Nato and the renewed threat posed by Russia.
Russia is concurrently conducting naval exercises near the exclave of Kaliningrad further south.
Last week, Finland summoned the Russian ambassador after Kremlin warplanes were reported to have crossed into Finnish airspace. It has also been reported that Russia is building a military presence on Finland's border.
Arpan Rai28 May 2025 05:12
Russian aerial attacks across Ukraine at record levels
Russia has increased its attacks on Ukraine in the past week to weaken Kyiv and "undermine" Western support for the war-hit nation, a think-tank has said.
'Russian forces conducted one of their largest drone and missile strikes of the war against Ukraine on the night of 25 to 26 May after three nights of record strikes,' the Institute for the Study of War said.
'The 25-26 May strike is now the second largest combined strike of the war after Russian forces conducted the largest combined strike on the night of 24-25 May,' it added.
Russia is 'may be increasing strikes against Ukraine as part of a cognitive warfare effort to weaken Ukrainian resolve and undermine Western support for Ukraine,' the ISW said.
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