President Donald Trump offered rare criticism from Vladimir Putin, urging the Russian chief to “stop!” After a fatal dam of attacks against Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine.
“I am not satisfied with the Russian strikes on kyiv. Not necessary, and a very bad timing. Vladimir, stop! 5000 soldiers per week are dying,” said Trump in an article on his social platform Truth. “Allows you to make the peace agreement!”
Russia has struck Kyiv with a longtime missile and drone dam. At least nine people have been killed and more than 70 injured in the deadliest assault in the city since last July. The strikes took place just when peace efforts come to the head.
Trump’s frustration increases as an effort led by the United States to obtain a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia has not progressed.
Trump was unleashed on Wednesday, unleashed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and accused him of extending the “field of killing” by refusing to yield the Crimea Peninsula occupied by Russia as part of a possible agreement.
Zelenskyy repeatedly repeated during the war that started when Russia invaded in February 2022 that recognizing occupied territory like that of Russia is a red line for Ukraine.
Trump is expected to meet later Thursday with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre to discuss the war in Ukraine, American prices and other questions.
Zelenskyy said that after the attack, he interrupted his official trip to South Africa and returned home while the city rushed to the bombardment that kept residents on board for about 11 hours, and Zelenskyy called him “one of the most scandalous (Russians)”.
The damaged cars are in a courtyard with other debris after a Russian ballistic missile attack in kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday April 24, 2025. (AP photo / Efrem Lukatsky).
The mayor of Kyiv Vitalii Klitschko announced that Friday would be an official day of the day of mourning in the capital.
The Ukrainian Air Force said that Russia had drawn 66 ballistic and cruise missiles, four surface air missiles launched by plane and 145 Shahed and Lure drones in Kyiv and four other regions of Ukraine. The rescuers with pocket lamps have crossed the charred rubble with partially collapsed houses while the blue lights of emergency vehicles illuminate the streets of the dark city.
Zelenskyy says that the future of negotiations depends on Moscow
Zelenskyy has repeated several times during the war of more than three years that recognizing occupied territory as Russian is a red line for his country. He noted on Thursday that Ukraine had accepted a proposal for a ceasefire from the United States 44 days ago, in the first step towards a negotiated peace, but that the attacks of Russia continued.
He declared in South Africa that the last attack meant that the future of negotiations “depends on the intention of Russia, because it is in Moscow where they must make a decision.”
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While the discussions have been held in recent weeks, Russia has struck the city of Sumy, killing more than 30 civilians gathered to celebrate twigs on Sunday, beaten Odesa with drones and Zaporizhzhia bent with powerful Glide bombs.
The head of the European Union foreign policy Kaja Kallas said that the attack stressed that the main obstacle at the end of the war is Russia.
“While claiming to seek peace, Russia has launched a fatal strike on kyiv,” she wrote on social networks. “It is not a pursuit of peace, it is a mockery.”
Senior American officials have warned that the Trump administration could soon abandon its efforts to stop the war if the two parties do not compromise.
The Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Andrii Sybiha, said that the attack showed that Russian president Vladimir Putin is determined to press the advantage of his greatest army on the front line of approximately 1000 kilometers (620 miles), where it currently holds the momentum.
The rescuers carry the body of a victim found under the rubble after a Russian strike in a residential area of kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday April 24, 2025. (AP photo / Alex Babenko).
“Putin demonstrates through his actions, not the words, that he does not respect any effort of peace and only wants to continue the war,” said Sybiha on X. “The weakness and the concessions will not stop his terror and his aggression. Only strength and pressure.”
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal noted that, since the large -scale invasion of February 2022 from his neighbor, Russian attacks killed some 13,000 civilians, including 618 children.
Kyiv residents spent the night in shelters
At least 42 people were hospitalized following the attack on the kyiv residential suburbs, said the Ukraine State Emergency Service.
In a residential building in Kyiv which was almost entirely destroyed, the emergencies withdrew rubble with their hands, saving a woman trapped who emerged from the wreck covered with white dust and moaning of pain.
An elderly woman seated against a brick wall, her face stamped with blood, her eyes fixed to the ground in shock while the doctors took care of her injuries.
Fires have been reported in several residential buildings have said that Tymur Tkachenko, the city’s military administration chief.
The attack, which started around 1 a.m., struck at least five districts in Kyiv.
Oksana Bilozir, a student, suffered a head injury in the attack. With blood that infiltrates her bandaged head, she said that she had heard a strong explosion after the air alarm has burned and started grabbing her things to flee to a refuge while another explosion has collapsed and the lights of her house and the lights go out.
Local residents react to the site of a building of buildings struck by a Russian ballistic missile attack in kyiv, Ukraine, early Thursday, April 24, 2025.
“Honestly, I don’t even know how it will all end, it’s very scary,” said Bilozir, referring to the war against the invasion of Russia. “I only believe that if we can stop them on the battlefield, then that’s it. No diplomacy works here. “
The attack maintained many people awake all night while multiple noisy explosions have repercussions in the city and lightning of light punctuated the sky. Families have gathered in public air raid shelters, some of which bringing their cats and dogs for pets.
Zelenskyy returns from South Africa
Zelenskyy said in a telegram that he would return to kyiv after meeting South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The Ukrainian leader had hoped to recruit another South African support in efforts to end his country’s war with Russia, now in its fourth year.
The United Nations Bureau for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that kyiv’s attack was “yet another appalling violation of international humanitarian law”.
“Civilians should never be targets. This insane use of force must stop,” he said in a statement.
Anastasiia Zhuravlova, 33, mother of two, sheltered in a basement after several explosions damaged his house. His family was sleeping when the first explosion broke their windows and sent steering wheel aircraft in the air. Glass shards have rained on them as they rushed to cover themselves in the corridor.
Ukrainian researchers clean the rubble after a Russian ballistic missile attack in kyiv, Ukraine, early Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP photo / efrem Lukatsky).
“After that, we came to the refuge because it was frightening and dangerous at home,” she said.
In the district of Sviatoshynskyi of Kyiv, the attack has flattened a two -story residential building and strongly damaged from the nearby several floors. The rescue work continued throughout the morning.
In a nearby working work school, the children helped parents cover the blown windows with plastic while others were lined up for compensation for the government. Many stood in clothes stained with blood, always shaken.
–The journalist of Associated Press Michelle Gamede in Pretoria, South Africa contributed to this report.
