Ukraine warfare newest: Trump says Russia will do ‘right thing’ after Putin units out powerful situations for ceasefire

Russian air defence units repelled an attack by four drones flying towards Moscow, mayor Sergei Sobyanin said this morning.

The attack came after three men were killed in the Moscow region in what was described as the largest drone attack on the Russian capital since the start of the war in Ukraine.

A large fire broke out at an oil refinery in Russia’s Krasnodar Krai overnight following an alleged attack by Ukraine, governor Veniamin Kondratyev claimed.

Over 100 fire department officials were working to extinguish a fire that engulfed the gasoline storage tank, he added.

Videos posted on social media showed a large fire burning in the depot.

Mr Kondratyev claimed that the region was rocked by explosions in an attack carried out by Kyiv.

The launch of the Kursk operation was marked by attempts to break through Ukrainian lines outside the salient of land captured by Kyiv in a surprise assault in August.

Likening the North Korean tactics to a cyber attack that can crash a website with mass attempts to access it, a Ukrainian military officer told The Independent: “[We faced] human waves like DDOS attacks on our positions… we killed eight out of 10 North Koreans.”

Sam Kiley reports from Ukraine.

The US is reportedly poised to resume shipments to Ukraine of long-range bombs known as Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bombs (GLSDB), after they were upgraded to better counter Russian jamming.

The munitions will arrive amid reports that Ukraine’s supply of similarly-ranged Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) has been depleted, Reuters reported.

The glide-bombs were purchased under the US administration of former president Joe Biden using the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative.

The US has bought nearly $33.2bn worth of new arms and military equipment for Kyiv directly from US and allied defense contractors.

President Donald Trump’s administration agreed this week to resume military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine after Kyiv said it was ready to support Washington’s proposal for a 30-day ceasefire with Russia.

US president Donald Trump called Vladimir Putin’s statement on the US-proposed ceasefire “very promising” and said he hoped Moscow would “do the right thing”.

“Now we’re going to see whether or not Russia is there, and if they’re not, it’ll be a very disappointing moment for the world,” he said.

Mr Putin yesterday said that Russia supported the ceasefire in Ukraine in principle, but sought a number of clarifications and conditions that appeared to rule out a quick end to the fighting.

“We agree with the proposals to cease hostilities,” Mr Putin told reporters at the Kremlin. “The idea itself is correct, and we certainly support it.”

“But we proceed from the fact that this cessation should be such that it would lead to long-term peace and would eliminate the original causes of this crisis.”

Vladimir Putin’s foreign policy adviser complained in televised remarks that a proposed ceasefire would grant a “temporary break for the Ukrainian military”.

Yuri Ushakov’s comments came a day after his phone call with US national security adviser Michael Waltz.

More here.

Russia has reportedly presented the US with a list of demands for a deal to end its invasion of Ukraine and reset relations with Washington.

It is unclear what was included in that letter but former senior British officials with a focus on Russia have suggested to The Independent that Moscow will try to extract maximal demands from Washington in exchange for a ceasefire.

They say it is likely to include calling for Ukraine to disarm and for it to be barred from joining Nato or the European Union, tantamount to making Ukraine a “non-country”.

More details here.

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said she thinks Russia will likely say yes to a ceasefire but with conditions.

Ms Kallas said the US has told members it understands that Russia may be playing a game to extend the process by blurring the picture, she told Reuters.

Any delay would give Russia more time for its troops to push the last Ukrainian forces out of Russia’s western Kursk region. Moscow also demands that Kyiv permanently cede territory claimed by Russia, a position that Ukraine rejects.

Ukraine and its allies describe Russia’s 2022 invasion as an imperial-style land grab, and president Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly vowed to defeat Russian forces.

Russian forces control nearly a fifth of Ukraine’s territory and have been edging forward since mid-2024.

Putin has now discussed the situation in Kursk, where a rapid Russian offensive has recaptured large pockets of land.

“The situation is fully under our control and the group that invaded our territory has been isolated, fully isolated,” he said.

“Ukraine’s control over the Ukrainian forces has been lost.

“If there is a physical blockade, in the next two days, nobody will be able to leave. There will be only two ways: surrender or die.”

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have said there were 128 clashes on the frontline with one-third in the Pokrovsk sector.

An update on Facebook read: “According to preliminary calculations, today the occupiers in the Pokrovsky direction lost 344 people killed and wounded.

“Our soldiers destroyed three mortars, two cannons, eight vehicles units, 11 motorcycles, a self-propelled artillery rig, eight satellite terminals, four control points and two trenches.”