Ukrainian officials did not get a heads-up from “our partners” about the latest Russian assault on civilian sites in Kyiv, the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, said early Tuesday after what he described as a “particularly vile” attack.
Zelensky did not directly blame any nation or leader for the lack of warning, but his comments came hours after President Trump told reporters that Russian President Vladimir Putin “wants to make a deal more than Zelensky” and brushed off Ukraine’s claims that Moscow was responsible for violating a limited cease-fire.
“Intelligence on Russian ballistic missile launches helps save lives, and this is one of the most critical issues. This is precisely what helps prevent people from being killed – when there is an early warning about ballistic missiles,” Zelensky said on X.
Zelensky said Russia had attacked Ukraine with more than 100 weapons since Monday evening. Among the damage was a residential building in the northeastern city of Kharkiv that was destroyed, killing four people despite an all-night rescue operation, he said.
Russia has increasingly used attacks on civilian infrastructure such as energy facilities to deny Ukrainians power, heat and running water during the four-and-a-half year-old war, hoping to wear down public support for Ukraine’s response to Moscow’s full-scale invasion.
Ukraine, meanwhile, has launched strikes against Russian energy sites like oil refineries, sometimes deep within Russian territory, despite requests by Trump to refrain from doing so.
“Ukraine has not carried out strikes on Russian oil refineries or the energy sector in general for the two days since the American President announced an energy ceasefire. But Russia did not heed the American President,” Zelensky insisted Tuesday. “During this time, the Russians have attacked both our energy facilities and our critical infrastructure, sending absolutely clear signals that they have no intention of refraining from strikes on Ukraine … Our position remains unchanged: Ukraine is ready for reciprocal steps toward de-escalation, and effective pressure on Russia is needed to make de-escalation happen. Wars end when the aggressor realizes that it cannot prolong the war.”
Neither Russian officials nor media have reported Ukrainian attacks on oil refineries since Trump announced the energy truce Sunday.
The president told reporters Monday evening that “there have been violations on both sides” and demanded both leaders figure out a way to “end that ridiculous war.”
“This month they lost 32,000 people in that war, and it’s ridiculous,” Trump said as he left the White House for a pre-midterms rally in Ohio. “So they have to get together and get it done.”
In addition to the four deaths in the apartment building in Kharkiv, 41 people were wounded in the city Monday night into Tuesday morning, Zelensky said.
A woman was wounded in a Russian strike on a private home in Kyiv’s Darnytskyi district, the city military administration said, while a Russian drone hit a residential building in the village of Murovane, near the western city of Lviv, during a morning attack Tuesday, Lviv Mayor Andrii Sadovyi said.
One person was killed in the Fastiv district of the Kyiv region and at least two others were hurt in a Russian attack on the area, said Tymur Tkachenko, head of the regional military administration.
A Russian drone also struck an educational institution in the center of Rivne in northwest Ukraine, wounding 14 people, according to Oleksandr Koval, head of the Rivne regional military administration.
The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement Tuesday that its forces overnight “launched coordinated strikes using ground-based precision weapons and unmanned aerial vehicles against Ukrainian military-industrial facilities, logistics centers, railway and port infrastructure, as well as vessels involved in delivering military cargo to Ukraine.”
The ministry also said a bulk carrier headed to the port of Mykolaiv with military cargo on board was hit in the estuary of the Dnieper and Bug rivers along the Black Sea.
The Russian Defense Ministry on Tuesday said its air defenses overnight shot down 604 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions and the Sea of Azov.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said 417 drones targeted the Moscow region. Most were downed far away, while 65 were intercepted as they approached the Russian capital.
A school, two private houses and a car were damaged in the attack in the Kaluga region southwest of Moscow, Gov. Vladislav Shapsha said.
With Post wires
