Putin prepares for Trump phone call by launching largest drone strike yet on Ukraine

Posted by. Posted onMay 19, 2025 Comments0
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Russia continued its slaughter of Ukrainian civilians ahead of today’s scheduled phone call between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump.

Russian shelling in Kherson killed a 75-year-old woman and wounded two others, signalling the Kremlin intends to continue its war in the face of the US president’s bid to stop the relentless killing.

In the region of Kharkiv, two women, 75 and 55, suffered ‘acute shock’ and a man, 55, was wounded by strikes on a residential building and nearby warehouses.

Other areas struck were Sumy, Poltava, Chernihiv, Kyiv, Donetsk, Kirovograd, Cherkasy, Nikolaev, and Dnepropetrovsk regions.

Putin is seen by Kremlin insiders as determined to keep going with the war despite pressure from Trump to agree to a ceasefire and start serious talks about peace.

The Russian leader believes he will gain the entirety of regions Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia by the end of the year if he keeps fighting, reported Bloomberg.

Firefighters work at the site of a private enterprise hit by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, outside of Kyiv, Ukraine May 18, 2025. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko
Residences and businesses have been turned into rubble (Picture: Reuters)
A resident carries a cat at the site of a house heavily damaged by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, outside of Kyiv, Ukraine May 18, 2025. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Residents were seen carrying pets away from the rubble (Picture: Reuters)

Putin said on Russian state television: ‘We have enough strength and resources to bring what was started in 2022 to its logical conclusion with the result that Russia needs.’

The barrage came after the first direct talks between Moscow and Kyiv in years on Friday failed to yield a ceasefire.

Putin denied Zelensky’s offer to meet face-to-face in Turkey after he himself proposed direct negotiations as an alternative to a 30-day ceasefire urged by Ukraine and its western allies.

Later today, Trump will speak by phone to Putin, before calling Zelensky and leaders of various Nato countries, about ending the war in Ukraine.

A failure of peace talks with Putin could mean the imminent imposition of new British and European sanctions against Russia.

Firefighters work at the site of a private enterprise hit by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, outside of Kyiv, Ukraine May 18, 2025. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko
Kyiv and most of eastern Ukraine have continued to be pummelled (Picture: Reuters)
Putin is expected to speak to Trump today (Picture: Getty)

Days ago, after the initial talks failed, Putin unleashed a drone on a civilian bus in the region of Sumy, killing nine and wounding others.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that a mother, a father and a daughter died in the strike.

He called it a ‘deliberate killing of civilians’ in a post on Telegram, adding: ‘According to preliminary information, the Russians killed a family: a father, mother, and daughter died from the impact.

In eastern Ukraine, masses of civilians have been fleeing the surrounding towns and villages as enemy forces push forward.

Russia’s TASS state news agency reported that Russian forces had struck a Ukrainian military equipment staging area in the region with drones.

Pictures shared by Ukrainian police show a dark blue passenger van nearly destroyed, with the roof torn off and the windows blown out.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

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