Latest attacks came hours after Donald Trump said Vladimir Putin was ‘doing what anybody would do’
Russia launched a devastating attack on Ukraine on Saturday, killing at least 14 people and injuring dozens more, hours after Donald Trump defended Vladimir Putin and said the Kremlin leader was “doing what anybody would do”.
Two ballistic missiles hit the centre of Dobropillia in the eastern Donetsk region. Fire engulfed a five-storey apartment building. As emergency services arrived, Russia launched another strike on the same area. Eleven civilians were killed, with five children among the 30 injured.
Writing on social media, Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the “vile and inhuman intimidation tactic often used by the Russians”. Three people also died and seven injured in a drone attack in the city of Bohodukhiv, in the Kharkiv region.
Russia’s relentless bombardment of Ukrainian cities has intensified after a torrid week in which Trump has pulled the plug on intelligence sharing with Ukraine and halted the supply of US weapons.
These hostile moves mean the alarm system that warns Ukrainian civilians of incoming enemy missiles is less effective. Asked if Putin was taking advantage of US aid pauses, Trump on Friday acknowledged Ukraine was experiencing a “tremendous pounding”.
He suggested, however, that “anyone in Putin’s position” would do the same. Before a meeting on Tuesday between US and Ukrainian representatives in Saudi Arabia, Trump said he was “finding it easier” to deal with Moscow than with Kyiv.
European leaders suggested the US president was complicit in the latest devastation.
The Polish prime minister, Donald Tusk, said there had been “another tragic night in Ukraine”, with “more bombs, more aggression and more victims”. Without mentioning Trump directly, he said: “This is what happens when someone appeases barbarians.”
The EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said the “relentless” Russian missiles demonstrated that Putin had no interest in peace. “We must step up our military support. Otherwise, even more Ukrainian civilians will pay the highest price,” she said.
Zelenskyy has been seeking to repair relations with Trump after their acrimonious White House meeting last month. Ukraine’s president has sketched out a peace plan – beginning with a truce on land and sea – and said he is ready to sign a favourable minerals deal with the US.
So far, however, Trump has piled pressure on Ukraine while making no demands of Russia. Zelenskyy said Saturday’s strike showed Moscow’s objectives had not changed. He called for an increase in sanctions against Russia to “collapse” its war economy.
Russia’s latest strike transformed the centre of Dobropillia into a sprawling ruin. The apartment block was a gutted mess. There were burnt-out cars and vans and smouldering debris. Rescuers swept up glass and twisted pieces of metal. Video from the strike showed a terrifying explosion.
Irina Kostenko, 59, spent the night cowering in her hallway with her husband. When she left the apartment building on Saturday, she saw a neighbour “lying dead on the ground, covered with a blanket”. “It was shocking, I don’t have the words to describe it,” she said.
Meanwhile, Russia has exploited the US intelligence and weapons freeze to launch a series of bold attacks. North Korean and Russian troops have broken through Ukraine’s defences in Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukrainian units have for seven months occupied a parcel of territory.
There were unconfirmed reports on Saturday that Ukrainian forces had managed to stabilise the situation and avoid encirclement, at least for now. A hundred Russian soldiers crept through a gas pipeline in a raid on the Kyiv-held Russian town of Sudzha, Ukrainskaya Pravda newspaper reported.
Ukraine’s hold on territory in Kursk is increasingly precarious. Soldiers told the Observer two supply roads with the Ukrainian city of Sumy were open, but came under constant attack from Russian drones and artillery.
Serhiy Sternenko, a prominent Ukrainian activist, described the logistics situation there as “rapidly deteriorating and already critical”. “Logistics routes to Sudzha are under full enemy fire control,” he posted on X.
According to Kremlin bloggers, Russian combat groups advanced several kilometres across the border into Ukraine’s Sumy region. Russia also said it had retaken three villages in neighbouring Kharkiv Oblast.
