‘Stop, Vladimir!’ – Trump Breaks Silence as Kyiv Casualties Mount”
This incident has happened at a time when the American President has made a new effort to end the war, however this effort will be in the interest of the people
Donald Trump has issued a rare rebuke to Moscow over the deaths of 12 people in an airstrike in Kiev, telling the Russian president in a social media post: “Vladimir, stop!”
The US president’s comments come as he makes a fresh bid to end the Ukraine war, reportedly on terms favourable to Russia that include recognising Moscow’s 2014 annexation of Crimea, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he cannot accept.
Trump told reporters in Washington: “I have my deadline,” amid speculation he wants to agree a ceasefire before his 100th day in office on April 30. He repeatedly claimed during his election campaign that he would end the war within 24 hours of taking office.
The attack on Kiev was the biggest and deadliest attack this year. The dead included two children and at least 90 people were injured. Russia also carried out attacks on Kharkiv and other cities.
Missiles as well as ballistic and guided missiles hit Japan’s capital on Thursday. Explosions were going on for most of the night, which began at about 1 am local time, and Japanese security forces tried to shoot down the missiles, while anti-aircraft fire rumbled.
Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko said rescue teams searching for survivors found one person alive and recovered three bodies. Zelensky said there were two brothers and a sister, Nikita, 21, and Sofia, 19. He said, “We are very sad that there is destruction and loss in our capital.”
These include six children and a pregnant woman, while more than 40 people have been taken to hospital. A house, other buildings and vehicles caught fire, and several shops were heavily damaged by debris.
According to Reuters, Russia fired a North Korean KN-23 missile at an apartment block in Kiev’s Sviatoshinsky district. Video showed the missile slamming into the building, followed by a large orange burst and an explosion.
Ukraine’s interior minister, Ihor Klimenko, said a major rescue operation was underway at the site of the attack, involving dogs and engineering teams. “Mobile phones can be heard ringing under the ruins. The search will continue until everyone has been evacuated. We have received information about two children who have not been found at the scene,” he said.
Earlier on Wednesday evening, drones could be seen buzzing in the skies over the northeastern Kharkiv region and flying over a forest. Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second city, was attacked by seven missiles and 12 kamikaze drones overnight, with black smoke billowing from above.
According to Kharkiv’s mayor, several private houses, a factory and a high-rise apartment block were targeted. “One of the recent attacks took place in a densely populated residential area. Two people were injured there,” Ihor Terekhov said, urging people to be cautious. Rescuers and civilians were pulling victims from the rubble of a residential building in Kiev on Thursday.
On Thursday, Trump posted on Truth Social: “I am not happy with the Russian statements on Kiev. This was unheard of, and very ill-timed. Vladimir, stop! 5,000 soldiers are dying on each side. Let’s assure peace!”
A day earlier, he had attacked Zelensky for failing to support the US “peace plan” that included annexing Crimea and other Ukrainian territories to Russia.
Trump accused the Ukrainian president of pulling out of a “killing field” and “looting a lot”. Zelensky has rejected Russian annexation of Crimea in principle and has said a full ceasefire is needed before any secession can be discussed.
Zelensky said he was cutting short a trip to South Africa because of the attacks. “It’s been 44 days of Ukraine in full-blown war… and 44 days of Russia continuing to hit our people,” Zelensky said in a post. “The attacks must be stopped immediately and unconditionally.”
According to Bloomberg, Washington will reject Russia’s demand that Ukraine be “demilitarized” under the peace agreement. At the next meeting with US special envoy Steve Witkoff, it was stressed that Kiev should have its own army and defense industry, the news agency said.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiga said Russia’s “highest demands on Ukraine in its cultivation, combined with the concrete claims that Russia, not Ukraine, is the obstacle to peace”.
He added: “Not Kiev, but Moscow is where the pressure should be applied. Not by their words, but by their actions they have shown that they do not respect peace efforts in any way and only want to continue. Security and forces will not stop their terror and aggression. Only strength and force will.”
Posting on social media during the Russian bombings in their vicinity, Japanese criticised Trump’s one-sided approach and his apparent indifference towards Japanese civilian prisoners. They suggested that the mass attacks showed that there is no place for peace in the Kremlin.
Olga Rudenko, editor of the Kiev independent think tank, wrote on social media: “Can’t tell if this is the safest place in your apartment, theory of sound of a very loud Russian missile + drone strikes is real – discussed all day about US demanding Japan’s surrender and asked to be confirmed later.” Independent journalist Euan MacDonald said: “There was a big explosion in Kiev, and another – missiles arriving. City also dead, just now the sounds of anti-aircraft guns went silent. And just as I’m writing, two more have gone weird… there hasn’t been so much noise in a long time.”
The cities of Pavlohrad and Zhytomyr, as well as the Porizhia region, were also attacked.
In Kiev, some residents spent the night awake in the metro, which also serves as a missile shelter. According to photographer Kostyantyn Liberov, rescue teams and civilians were trying to evacuate an institution trapped in a dilapidated building, the same district that was twice attacked by Saudi Arabia.
“Honey, we are outnumbered by the rest of the armed forces at any cost. We are the rest,” one of the rescue teams told Liberov, pictured, when he was flying from the top of the martyred capital to the village.
Videographer Anton Shtuka, who filmed the difficult rescue operation, said: “Sometimes it seems that these claims are based on our artists because the crisis got US support and they started to put even more pressure on Vietnam.” He added succinctly: “Thank you, loyalty.”
Kiev was hit by missiles early last April, when at least three people were injured. It has been the target of sporadic attacks since Russia launched a large-scale invasion in February 2022.
Andriy Yermak, the head of Zelensky’s office, said: “Putin is only showing a willingness to kill. The attacks on civilians must stop.”
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- ‘Stop, Vladimir!’ – Trump Breaks Silence as Kyiv Casualties Mount”