Ukraine reels from its deadliest bombardment in weeks — hours after Washington shelves plans for a Trump-Putin peace meeting in Budapest.
Russia unleashes a deadly wave of missiles and drones on Ukraine, killing civilians and children, just as Trump cancels his planned summit with Putin — a signal Moscow reads as weakness, not restraint.
KYIV, UKRAINE — Russia launched one of its heaviest overnight barrages in months, striking homes, schools, and power infrastructure across Ukraine just hours after the Trump-Putin peace summit was abruptly shelved.
At least seven civilians, including two children, were killed and 27 others wounded in the overnight assault, which saw 405 drones and 28 missiles launched across multiple regions, according to Ukrainian officials.
In Kharkiv, a Russian drone struck a kindergarten, killing a 40-year-old man and wounding several children. In Kyiv, explosions tore through residential districts, setting high-rises ablaze and killing a couple in their 60s. Among the dead were a six-month-old baby and a 12-year-old girl.
President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the strikes as “proof that Russia still feels no sufficient pressure from the world.” He said the attacks targeted “civilian life, not military positions,” accusing Moscow of escalating its assault after Western hesitation to supply long-range weapons.
The bombardment followed Ukraine’s own Storm Shadow missile strike on Russia’s Bryansk Chemical Plant, which Kyiv described as a “successful hit” that penetrated Moscow’s air defences. The facility, located near the border, produces explosives and rocket fuel for Russian munitions.
Hours later, US President Donald Trump confirmed that his planned summit with Vladimir Putin in Budapest had been “shelved”, saying he didn’t want a “wasted meeting.” The Kremlin disputed the cancellation, insisting “preparations continue” and describing reports of suspension as “rumours.”
Zelensky, now in Norway as part of a European diplomatic tour, told reporters he believes the summit’s postponement was directly linked to his failed push for U.S. Tomahawk missiles. “As soon as the issue of long-range missiles became distant, Russia became less interested in diplomacy,” he said.
The night-long assault plunged several Ukrainian regions into darkness as emergency crews battled fires and power grids were knocked offline. Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, said the strikes were the capital’s first since September and “a clear message from Moscow that peace talks are not on their agenda.”
Analysts in Europe see the dual events — the Storm Shadow strike and the Trump-Putin freeze — as part of a dangerous new phase. “Every Western hesitation translates into a Russian escalation,” a senior NATO defence adviser told WARYATV. “Putin reads delays in diplomacy as freedom to strike harder.”
For now, Ukraine counts its dead while the world debates its next move. And in the ruins of a Kharkiv kindergarten, the cost of hesitation could not be clearer.
