The China Mail - Ukraine says hit by record drone salvo after Trump rebukes Putin

The US president has been trying to broker an end to the three-year war, but has failed to extract any major concessions from the Kremlin, despite repeated negotiations between his administration and Russia and several phone calls between him and Putin.

For three consecutive nights Russia has pummelled Ukraine with large-scale drone attacks, saturating its air defences and killing at least 13 people on Sunday, officials said.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Monday that there were "no longer any range restrictions" on arms supplied by key Western allies to Ukraine, allowing Kyiv to attack "military positions in Russia".

In a rare rebuke of the Russian leader, Trump said on Truth Social late Sunday in Washington: "I've always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him. He has gone absolutely CRAZY!"

"I've always said that he wants ALL of Ukraine, not just a piece of it, and maybe that's proving to be right, but if he does, it will lead to the downfall of Russia!"

French President Emmanuel Macron said Monday he hoped Trump's anger at Moscow translated "into action", and that the US president realised Putin was not ready for peace.

- 'Critical moment' -

The Kremlin played down Trump's criticism on Monday, saying Putin was taking measures "necessary to ensure Russia's security".

"This is a very critical moment, which is fraught with emotional stress for everyone, as well as emotional reactions," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the attacks showed Russia had a sense of "impunity".

"The increase in Russian strikes should be met with increased sanctions," he said on social media.

Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, launched in February 2022, has killed tens of thousands of people, destroyed towns as well as cities and spurred the biggest crisis in relations with the West since the Cold War.

Kyiv did not report any immediate deaths from the latest drone attack, but said Russian shelling in the last 24 hours had killed a civilian man in the northern Sumy region.

Ukrainian air force spokesman Yuriy Ignat warned it was becoming difficult to counter the sheer number of drones Moscow was firing.

"We need rational and cheaper ways to shoot them down," he told Ukrainian TV.

Russia said Monday it had captured two border villages in Ukraine's north eastern Sumy region, where it has been mounting an offensive for weeks.

- Blasts heard in Kyiv -

Earlier Sunday, Trump told reporters he was "not happy" about Russia's attacks on Ukraine and was "absolutely" considering increasing sanctions on Moscow.

AFP reporters in the capital Kyiv heard loud blasts from air defences early Monday.

Russia fired "355 Shahed-type drones" including decoys at Ukraine between Sunday night and early Monday, as well as nine cruise missiles, Ukraine's air force said.

Air force spokesman Yuriy Ignat told AFP it was the largest drone attack since Moscow's invasion began.

Air alerts in Kyiv lasted for six hours, officials said.

In the western Khmelnytsky region, Russian aerial attacks damaged 18 residential buildings, according to authorities.

A Russian attack also wounded a 14-year-old boy in the southern Odesa region, the region's governor said.

Diplomatic efforts to end the three-year war have stepped up a gear in recent weeks, with Russian and Ukrainian officials holding direct talks in Istanbul earlier this month for the first time in three years.

Both sides swapped 1,000 people each over the weekend in their biggest ever prisoner exchange, while Russia said it was preparing a document outlining its peace terms for ending the war.

But Moscow has repeatedly rejected proposals for a 30-day ceasefire from Kyiv and its Western allies, while grinding forward on the front line.

Ukraine's SBU security service said Monday it detained several people, including a teenager, for acting as "informants" for Moscow, guiding Russian strikes on the country.

E.Lau--ThChM