KYIV, Ukraine – US President Donald Trump threatened Sunday to impose additional sanctions on Russia following the Kremlin’s largest-ever aerial bombardment of Ukraine, which killed at least four people and set government buildings ablaze in the Ukrainian capital.
The massive assault, involving at least 810 drones and 13 missiles fired between late Saturday and early Sunday, marked a new escalation in the three-and-a-half-year conflict and the first time Ukraine’s cabinet headquarters has been directly hit.
“I’m not happy with the whole situation,” Trump told reporters after the attack, indicating his willingness to move forward with new sanctions against Moscow. The threat comes as diplomatic efforts to broker a ceasefire have stalled following an unsuccessful August 15 meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Flames rose from the roof of Ukraine’s sprawling government complex housing the cabinet of ministers in central Kyiv, marking an unprecedented escalation in Russia’s targeting strategy. Drone strikes also damaged several high-rise residential buildings throughout the capital, according to emergency services.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko shared video footage showing extensive damage to the government building’s interior. “We will restore the buildings,” she said in a statement. “But we cannot bring back lost lives. The enemy terrorizes and kills our people every day throughout the country.”
More than two dozen people were wounded in Kyiv alone, including a 24-year-old pregnant woman who delivered a premature baby shortly after the attack. Doctors are fighting to save both mother and child, according to state television reports.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged international partners to respond forcefully to what he characterized as Putin “testing the world.”
“It is important that there is a broad response from partners to this attack today,” Zelensky said in his evening address. “We are counting on a strong response from America. That is what is needed.”
Zelensky discussed the assault in a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron, who pledged French assistance in strengthening Ukraine’s defenses.
ALSO READ: Trump gives Russia 50 days to make Ukraine deal
European leaders swiftly condemned the attack, with French President Macron posting on X that Russia was “locking itself ever deeper into the logic of war and terror.”
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer denounced the strikes as “cowardly,” while European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen accused the Kremlin of “mocking diplomacy.”
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent escalated economic threats, suggesting Washington might impose tariffs on countries purchasing Russian oil. “The Russian economy will be in full collapse. And that will bring President Putin to the table,” Bessent told NBC television.
Russia denied targeting civilian infrastructure, claiming it struck only military objectives including a plant and logistics hub in Kyiv. The Russian defense ministry stated “no strikes were carried out on other targets within the boundaries of Kyiv.”
The Kremlin has consistently denied targeting civilians throughout the conflict, though international observers have documented extensive damage to non-military infrastructure across Ukraine.
The bombardment followed pledges from more than two dozen European countries to oversee any future peace agreement, with some nations expressing willingness to deploy troops on Ukrainian soil.
Ukraine has insisted on Western-backed security guarantees to prevent future Russian aggression, but Putin has warned that any Western military presence in Ukraine would constitute legitimate targets.
Russia has intensified its offensive operations since the failed Trump-Putin diplomatic meeting, continuing to claim territory through costly ground battles. Moscow now occupies approximately 20 percent of Ukrainian territory.
The conflict, Europe’s bloodiest since World War II, has resulted in tens of thousands of casualties and forced millions from their homes. Trump’s recent diplomatic efforts have yielded limited results as the war approaches its fourth year.
Among the casualties reported Sunday were seven horses killed at an equestrian club, prompting Ukraine’s foreign ministry to declare: “The world cannot stand aside while a terrorist state takes lives — human or animal — every single day.”
ALSO READ: Trump deploys nuclear submarines amid escalating tensions with Russia
You must be logged in to post a comment.