Russia launches nearly 150 drones against Ukraine

Kyiv, April 27: Russia launched a sweeping drone assault and airstrikes across Ukraine early Sunday, killing at least four people, officials said, after US President Donald Trump cast doubt over Russian President Vladimir Putin’s willingness to end the war.
Three people died and four were wounded in airstrikes on Kostyantynivka in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, the regional prosecutor’s office said.
Another person died and a 14-year-old girl was wounded in a drone attack on the city of Pavlohrad in the Dnipropetrovsk region, which was hit for the third consecutive night, Gov. Serhii Lysak said.
The attacks came hours after Russia claimed to have regained control over the remaining parts of the Kursk region that Ukrainian forces seized in a surprise incursion in August 2024. Ukrainian officials said the fighting in Kursk was still ongoing.
Trump said Saturday he doubts Putin wants to end the more than 3-year-old war, expressing new scepticism a peace deal can be reached soon. Only a day earlier, Trump had said Ukraine and Russia were “ very close to a deal.” “There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days,” Trump wrote in a social media post as he flew back to the US after attending the funeral of Pope Francis at the Vatican, where he met briefly with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump also hinted at further sanctions against Russia.
The Trump-Zelenskyy conversation was the first face-to-face encounter between the two leaders since their heated Oval Office meeting at the White House on February 28.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday the coming week would be “very critical,” and that the US would need to “make a determination about whether this is an endeavour that we want to continue to be involved in.” Asked about possible concessions to Russia, Rubio emphasised the need to be “grownups and realistic.” (AP)