The Kremlin has sought to downplay Donald Trump’s latest remarks in regard to Ukraine – in which he said Vladimir Putin had “gone absolutely CRAZY!” – attributing them to “emotional overload”. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow on Monday: “This is a very crucial moment, which is naturally accompanied by emotional overload on all sides and emotional reactions,” while adding that Moscow was “very grateful” to the US president for his continued engagement in peace talks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy doubled down on criticism of US silence on Russian attacks, after Donald Trump said he was “doing his Country no favours”. “Only a sense of total impunity can allow Russia to carry out such strikes and continue increasing their scale,” Zelenskyy said on social media, adding: “The increase in Russian strikes should be met with increased sanctions.”
Russia launched its biggest drone attack against Ukraine overnight, a Ukrainian official said Monday, firing a record 355 Shahed drones as well as nine cruise missiles and killing six people. It was the third consecutive night of significant bombardments and part of an escalating bombing campaign that has further dashed hopes for a breakthrough in efforts to end the three-year-old war. This month alone, Russia has broken its record for aerial bombardments of Ukraine three times.
The German chancellor has said that Germany, along with Ukraine’s other main western supporters, will remove range restrictions on weapons delivered to Kyiv for the first time, to enable it to defend itself against Russia. Friedrich Merz said Germany, Britain, France and the US had lifted the restrictions to enable Ukraine to be better able to hit military targets on Russian territory. “There are no longer any range restrictions on weapons delivered to Ukraine – neither by the British, nor by the French, nor by us, nor by the Americans,” he said on Monday. Peskov said the decision was “quite dangerous” and “contrary to our efforts to reach a political settlement.”
Putin on Monday threatened to “throttle” western firms remaining in Russia and acting against its interests, as part of Moscow’s effort to beef up domestic software development. “We need to throttle them. I completely agree, and I say this without hesitation,” he said in response to a businessman’s call to curb the activities of US tech companies Zoom and Microsoft, which now provide only limited services in Russia.
The governor of Ukraine’s Sumy region on the Russian border said on Monday that Russian forces had captured four villages as part of an attempt to create a “buffer zone” on Ukrainian territory. Russia’s military and Russian military bloggers have in recent days reported captured villages in Sumy, which has come under frequent Russian airstrikes for months. Sumy Region Governor Oleh Hryhorov, writing on Facebook, listed four villages inside the border that he said were now held by Russian forces – Novenke, Basivka, Veselivka and Zhuravka. He said their residents had long been evacuated.
Russia’s defence ministry said on Monday that its forces shot down 103 Ukrainian drones overnight that were flying over southern and western Russia, including near Moscow. Russia’s federal air transport agency said 32 flights scheduled to land at three Moscow airports on Sunday and Monday had to divert amid Ukrainian drone attacks.
Ukraine’s SBU security service said Monday it detained several people, including a teenager, for acting as “informants” for Moscow, guiding Russia on its strikes on the country. The SBU said it uncovered a network of five young “agents” spying for Russia in several regions. “The youngest of them is 16 years old, and the oldest is 23,” the SBU said.
