An overnight Russian attacked killed at least 12 people in eastern Ukraine as of Saturday morning, the country’s emergency service said, days ahead of peace talks in Saudi Arabia between US and Ukrainian negotiators.
The Russian strike hit the center of Dobropillia in Ukraine’s Donetsk region late Friday, killing 11 people and wounding 30, emergency services reported.
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Separately, one person was killed and seven others wounded in a drone attack early Saturday in the city of Bogodukhiv, Kharkiv region military head Oleh Synegubov said.
The Russian attacks came despite US President Donald Trump threatened new sanctions and tariffs on Russia, meanwhile saying it was “easier” to work with Moscow than Kyiv on efforts to end its now three-year full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
After Trump and Vice President JD Vance publicly berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a White House meeting the week prior, and suspended US aid to Kyiv, the US president told reporters Friday that he “trusted” Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
“I’m finding it more difficult frankly to deal with Ukraine and they don’t have the cards,” Trump claimed. “It may be easier dealing with Russia.”
The remarks followed Trump earlier that day threatening new sanctions and tariffs on Russia over its bombardments of Ukraine – his warning coming just hours after Moscow launched a “massive” drone and missile attack on Ukrainian energy facilities.
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“Based on the fact that Russia is absolutely ‘pounding’ Ukraine on the battlefield right now, I am strongly considering large scale Banking Sanctions, Sanctions, and Tariffs on Russia until a Cease Fire and FINAL SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT ON PEACE IS REACHED,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
“To Russia and Ukraine, get to the table right now, before it is too late,” he wrote.