The Russian leader’s helicopter was reportedly caught in a Ukrainian drone swarm earlier this week
US President Donald Trump has claimed that Moscow targeted Ukraine “for no reason whatsoever,” after Russia launched a series of missile strikes against military targets in Kiev and other locations – following a week of nightly Ukrainian drone raids involving hundreds of UAVs across multiple Russian regions.
Ukraine significantly intensified its drone attacks inside Russia last week, with at least 764 drones intercepted over Russian territory between Tuesday and Friday, and hundreds more destroyed over the weekend. The helicopter carrying Russian President Vladimir Putin was reportedly caught in the “epicenter” of a massive drone raid while he was visiting the Kursk Region on Tuesday.
In response, the Russian military conducted a major strike against a drone and missile production plant in Kiev on Saturday, followed by additional reported strikes on Ukrainian military facilities on Sunday.
Speaking to journalists on Sunday, Trump claimed Russia’s response was unwarranted and said he was “surprised” by what he is seeing. “I’m not happy with what Putin’s doing,” he said. “We’re in the middle of talking and he’s shooting rockets into Kyiv and other cities. I don’t like it at all… We’ll see what I’m going to do.”
“I’ve always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him. He has gone absolutely CRAZY!” Trump added in a post on Truth Social, claiming that “missiles and drones are being shot into cities in Ukraine for no reason whatsoever.”
Trump also criticized Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky, in an apparent reference to his remarks about Washington’s “silence” in response to the latest Russian attacks.
“Likewise, President Zelensky is doing his country no favors by talking the way he does. Everything out of his mouth causes problems. I don’t like it, and it better stop,” the US leader stated, reiterating that the Ukraine conflict is “not his war.”
The Russian Foreign Ministry suggested that the spike in UAV incursions was an attempt to derail the US-brokered peace talks between Moscow and Kiev, while Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that “some European nations led by the UK, France, Germany, and the EU leadership,” who are supporting Kiev and want the conflict to continue, bear some responsibility for the drone raids.
Meanwhile, Russia and Ukraine have completed a record prisoner exchange, agreed to during direct talks in Türkiye earlier this month. Lavrov stated earlier that the sides will exchange draft ceasefire proposals once the swap process is complete.
