Ukraine hit by record drone salvo after Trump rebukes Putin

KYIV - Russia fired its biggest drone barrage on Ukraine overnight, Kyiv said May 26, just hours after Mr Donald Trump

called Mr Vladimir Putin “CRAZY”

and warned Moscow risked new sanctions if it kept up its deadly bombardment.

The US president has sought to broker an end to the three-year war, but has failed to extract major concessions from the Kremlin, despite repeated negotiations and several phone calls between him and Russia’s President.

For three consecutive nights, Russia has pummelled Ukraine with large-scale drone attacks, saturating its air defences and killing at least 13 people on May 25, officials said.

Russia fired “355 Shahed-type drones” including decoys, in the largest drone attack of the invasion between May 25 night and early May 26, as well as nine cruise missiles, Ukraine’s air force said.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on May 26 that there were

“no longer any range restrictions” on arms

supplied by key Western allies to Ukraine, allowing Kyiv to attack “military positions in Russia”.

It was not immediately clear when the decision was made nor which countries had changed their policy.

The Kremlin said any Western decision to lift range limits on arms delivered to Ukraine would be

“dangerous” and “at odds”

with peace efforts.

In a rare rebuke of the Russian leader, Mr Trump said on Truth Social late on May 25 in Washington: “I’ve always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him. He has gone absolutely CRAZY!”

“I’ve always said that he wants ALL of Ukraine, not just a piece of it, and maybe that’s proving to be right, but if he does, it will lead to the downfall of Russia!”

Earlier, Mr Trump told reporters he was “absolutely” considering increasing sanctions on Moscow.

‘Critical moment’

The Kremlin played down Mr Trump’s criticism on May 26, saying Mr Putin was taking measures “necessary to ensure Russia’s security”.

“This is a very critical moment, which is fraught with emotional stress for everyone, as well as emotional reactions,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for more sanctions on Moscow.

“Russian strikes are becoming increasingly brazen and large-scale every night,” Mr Zelensky said in his daily address, adding that some 900 drones and missiles were launched on Ukraine in the last three days.

“This makes no military sense, but it is an obvious political choice – Putin’s choice, Russia’s choice – to continue fighting and destroying lives,” he said.

Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, launched in February 2022, has killed tens of thousands of people, destroyed towns as well as cities and spurred the biggest crisis in relations with the West since the Cold War.

Kyiv did not report any immediate deaths from the latest drone attack, but said Russian shelling in the last 24 hours had killed a civilian man in the northern Sumy region.

Ukrainian air force spokesman Yuriy Ignat warned it was becoming difficult to counter the sheer number of drones Moscow was firing.

“We need rational and cheaper ways to shoot them down,” he told Ukrainian TV.

A Ukrainian military source told AFP that Kyiv was “somehow fighting” with available air defence capabilities and that there was “no need to panic”.

“To maintain our defence, we need deliveries of Western weapons,” the source said, adding that deliveries of Patriot missiles as well as Nasams medium-range air defence and Iris-T short-range systems were especially important for Ukraine.

After the May 26 attack, Mr Zelensky ordered “a significant increase in the production of interceptor drones” and “will seek additional funding from our partners for this purpose”, he said in the address, adding that Ukraine will increase funding for missile production as well.

Diplomatic efforts

Diplomatic efforts to end the war have heightened in recent weeks, with Russian and Ukrainian officials holding direct talks in Istanbul earlier in May for the first time in three years.

They each

sent back 1,000 people over the weekend

in their biggest prisoner exchange, while Russia said it was preparing a document outlining its peace terms.

Any more potential exchanges would depend on further talks with Ukraine, Mr Peskov told journalists ahead of Mr Putin’s meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, adding that Moscow was still working on a ceasefire memorandum.

Mr Putin and Mr Fidan discussed peace efforts after the Istanbul talks, as well as economic and energy cooperation, a Turkish Foreign Ministry source said.

Mr Fidan earlier met with Mr Vladimir Medinsky, Moscow’s chief negotiator with Kyiv.

Moscow has repeatedly rejected proposals for a 30-day ceasefire from Kyiv and its Western allies, while grinding forward on the front line.

Instead, Mr Putin offered to work on a memorandum stating conditions for a ceasefire, sparking criticism from Ukraine of stalling the talks. AFP