Russia attacked multiple Ukrainian cities with missiles following talks between Kyiv’s leadership and senior United States officials in Saudi Arabia that raised some hopes for a ceasefire.
The Kremlin’s attack targeted the Odessa, Kryvyi Rih, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Kyiv and Sumy regions, killing at least five people and wounding at least 11, according to local media reports.
Two missile strikes on Kryvyi Rih killed one woman and injured four on Wednesday morning, Ukrainian media reported. An attack Tuesday night on Odesa port killed three Syrian sailors and one Ukrainian who were loading a ship with wheat headed to Algeria.
“The youngest of the deceased was 18, and the oldest was 24. Two others were injured — a Ukrainian and a Syrian,” Minister of Community and Territorial Development of Ukraine Oleksiy Kuleba said on Telegram, adding that the ship was entirely civilian.
The attacks, in which Moscow’s forces hit Ukraine with three ballistic missiles and more than 130 drones, came just hours after Ukraine accepted a U.S. proposal for an immediate 30-day ceasefire — if Russia does so too.
In return, the U.S. said it will immediately lift the pause in intelligence sharing and resume security assistance to Ukraine. Tulsi Gabbard, the U.S. director of national intelligence, confirmed Wednesday that it has done so already.
While the Kremlin did not officially comment on the proposal, Reuters reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin considers the deal to be a “trap” and is unlikely to accept without further guarantees because Russia is currently advancing on the battlefield.
“It is difficult for Putin to agree to this in its current form,” the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation, told Reuters. “Putin has a strong position because Russia is advancing.”
Ukraine has long ruled out any ceasefire agreement that includes giving up land occupied by Russia, including the Crimean Peninsula, which Putin seized in 2014.U.S. President Donald Trump has vowed to end the war in Ukraine, has struck a Russia-sympathetic note in many of his remarks about the conflict and had a fierce argument with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office in late February.
In other news, Kremlin-allied military bloggers shared videos showing Russian soldiers raising their flags in the town of Sudzha in the Kursk region, which has been occupied by Ukraine since August 2024 following a successful incursion.
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