(Picture: Ukrainian State Emergency Service Press Service/UPI/Shutterstock)
NATO scrambled warplanes for the second night in a row as Vladimir Putin ignored Donald Trump’s ‘crazy’ jibe with more air strikes on Ukraine.
Writing on his Truth Social platform, the US president had said he ‘always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him. He has gone absolutely CRAZY!’
He posted after Russia unleashed367 drone and missile strike on Ukraine overnight on Friday and Saturday.
The bombardment left 12 people dead, including children, and was the biggest aerial attack of the war so far, said Ukraine.
Trump wrote afterwards: ‘He is needlessly killing a lot of people… I’ve always said that he wants ALL of Ukraine, not just a piece of it, and maybe that’s proving to be right, but if he does, it will lead to the downfall of Russia!’
He threated Russia with more sanctions if Putin continues to go against his calls for a peace deal.
But the Russian leader went ahead with a third day of attacks across Ukrain last night, including Kyiv.
NATO aircraft were flown from Poland as a defensive measure amid the heavy strikes by Putin.
‘Due to the attack by the Russian Federation, which is carrying out strikes on objects located in the territory of Ukraine, Polish and allied aviation has begun operating in our airspace,’ said a statement from the armed forces command.
The commander ‘activated all available forces and resources at his disposal.
‘The on-duty fighter pairs have been scrambled, and the ground-based air defence and radar reconnaissance systems have reached the highest state of readiness.
‘The steps taken are aimed at ensuring security in the areas bordering the threatened areas.’
Trump also criticised Trump as he spoke to reporters in New Jersey, ahead of a flight back to Washington DC.
He said: ‘I’m not happy with Putin. I don’t know what’s wrong with him.
‘He’s killing a lot of people,’ he added. ‘I’m not happy about that.
“He’s sending rockets into cities and killing people, and I don’t like it at all.’
Trump has repeatedly pushed for a ceasefire between the two nations and spoke to Putin on the phone for two hours last week.
Writing on Truth Social, Trump also criticised Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
He said the Ukrainian president was ‘doing his country no favours by talking the way he does. Everything out of his mouth causes problems, I don’t like it, and it better stop’.
The large-scale Russian attacks come after Russia and Ukraine began a major prisoner exchange – the first phase of a ‘1,000-for-1,000’ swap that was agreed on by the two sides at a meeting in Istanbul last week.
The Institute for the Study of War believes Putin’s relentless attacks are aimed at hitting morale in Ukraine but also undermining Western confidence in Kyiv’s ability to resist the Russians.
‘Russian President Vladimir Putin is leveraging long-range strikes against Ukrainian cities, aggressive rhetorical campaigns, and excessive pessimism in the West about the battlefield situation in Ukraine in a multi-pronged effort to degrade Ukrainian morale and convince the West that a Russian victory in Ukraine is inevitable and that supporting Ukraine is futile,’ said the USW.
Yet ‘the battlefield situation has shifted dramatically since early 2022, and three years of manpower and material losses have significantly degraded the Russian military’s ability to conquer Ukraine.
‘Russian advances have significantly slowed as Russian forces continue to suffer personnel losses and increasingly rely on poorly trained and equipped infantry to make gains.’
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