Days after U.S. President Donald Trump implored Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop bombing Ukraine, Russia launched 149 exploding drones and decoys into the embattled country. The strikes, which took place Saturday, April 26, into Sunday, killed at least four people and wounded more, The Associated Press reports.
In Kostyantynivka, in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, three people died and four were wounded, according to the regional prosecutor’s office. Meanwhile, one other person was killed, and a 14-year-old girl was injured in the city of Pavlohrad in the Dnipropetrovsk region, which has suffered three consecutive nights of attacks, according to Gov. Serhii Lysak. In the Odesa region, one person was wounded, as well as one in the city of Zhytomyr, and four were wounded in the city of Kherson, the AP cites local officials as saying.
According to the Ukrainian air force, 57 of the 149 drones and decoys launched overnight Sunday were intercepted, while 67 were jammed.
Trump grows increasingly frustrated with Putin
The attacks come one day after Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican. While flying back to the U.S. from Rome aboard Air Force One, Trump posted on Truth Social, “There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days. It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along,”
Two days before that, Trump addressed the Russian president by his first name in an emphatic post that read, “I am not happy with the Russian strikes on Kyiv. Not necessary and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP!”
Although Trump’s posts were bookended with assurances that Russia and Ukraine were “very close to a deal,” Russia has continued to ramp up its offensive and claims to have regained control of the Kursk region, which had been in Ukrainian hands since last August. Ukrainian officials dispute that claim, and say fighting in the region is ongoing, the AP reports.
Ukrainian drones shot down over Russian territory
On the other side of the fighting Sunday, five Ukrainian drones were shot down in the border region of Bryansk, according to Russia’s Defense Ministry, as well as three drones over the Crimean peninsula. Crimea was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, and has become a point of contention in the faltering ceasefire negotiations. Ukraine says it won’t cede any of its territory to Russia, while the Trump administration says Ukraine has to give up some of its land or the U.S. will walk away from its role as a mediator.
Ivan Prikhodko, the Russian-installed mayor of Horlivka, a city in the partially occupied region of Donetsk, said five people were wounded in Ukrainian shelling of the territory.
