Russia carried out a massive drone and air assault across Ukraine, killing at least four civilians, Ukrainian officials reported on Sunday. The attacks came just hours after US President Donald Trump publicly questioned Russian President Vladimir Putin’s willingness to end the war, casting doubt over recent peace efforts.
Sweeping Attacks Across Multiple Regions
In Donetsk, Russian forces dropped three glide bombs on a city about 10km from the front line, killing a couple aged 47 and 48, as well as a 78-year-old pensioner. Twenty-one homes were damaged, and images from the scene showed a destroyed house and a burned-out car. Meanwhile, another person was killed and a 14-year-old girl wounded in a drone attack on Pavlohrad in the Dnipropetrovsk region, marking the third consecutive night of strikes there.
Ukraine’s air force reported that Russia launched 149 drones and decoys overnight, of which 57 were shot down and 67 were jammed. Additional drone strikes wounded one person in the Odesa region and another in Zhytomyr, while an air attack on Kherson city left four people injured.
The latest wave of assaults coincided with Putin’s claim that Russian forces had fully regained control of the Kursk region — a statement Ukrainian officials denied, insisting that fighting continues.
Trump Questions Putin’s Commitment to Peace
The escalation unfolded shortly after President Trump expressed skepticism over a potential peace deal with Russia, saying he now doubts Putin is serious about ending the war. Just a day earlier, Trump had suggested Ukraine and Russia were “very close to a deal.” During his flight back to the United States after attending Pope Francis’s funeral, Trump criticized the recent missile attacks on civilian areas, suggesting they contradict any claims of seeking peace.
Trump also briefly met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Vatican, marking their first face-to-face encounter since a heated meeting at the White House in February. According to Kyiv and Washington, the two leaders spoke privately for about 15 minutes inside Saint Peter’s Basilica. Zelenskyy called the meeting potentially historic, while a White House spokesperson described it as “very productive.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio emphasized the urgency of a resolution, telling NBC’s Meet the Press that Washington is assessing whether continued mediation efforts are worthwhile. “We cannot continue to dedicate time and resources if a deal is not within reach,” Rubio said.
Car Bomb Attack Kills Senior Russian Officer
In a separate development, Russian investigators filed terrorism charges against a suspect in the car bombing that killed Yaroslav Moskalik, a senior Russian military officer, near Moscow on Friday. Russian authorities accused Ignat Kuzin, a former Ukraine resident, of carrying out the attack at the behest of Ukraine’s security services.
Moskalik, the deputy head of Russia’s main operations directorate, was killed hours before a scheduled meeting between Trump’s envoy and Putin in Moscow. The Kremlin has blamed Kyiv for the assassination, though Ukraine has not commented. Russian investigators said they are now working to identify additional individuals who may have been involved in the attack.
