Published on 6/25/2026
|
Last update: 14:50 (Mecca time)
Five people were killed on Thursday in Ukrainian attacks on Russia and the Crimean Peninsula, while US President Donald Trump praised the performance of his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in the ongoing war with Russia.
Sergei Aksyonov, the governor of the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine to its territory by unilateral decision, reported that two people, including a child, were killed, and two others were injured following night attacks from Ukraine.
The Ukrainian army seeks to cut off supply routes in Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, and uses to support its military operations against Ukrainian forces.
Another person was killed in an attack by Ukrainian forces on the Belgorod region, and strikes by Ukrainian drones killed two people in the Bryansk border region, a 23-year-old driver and a 15-year-old girl, according to regional authorities.
In the Krasnodar region (southern Russia), a fire broke out at the Poltavskaya oil depot in Krasnoarmeysky as a result of falling drone debris.
In total, 269 Ukrainian drones were shot down at night in Russian airspace and over the Crimean Peninsula.
Ukraine has begun targeting, on an almost weekly basis, oil refineries, transportation pipelines, and warehouses in Russia, in an effort to deprive Moscow of revenues from fuel sales that are used to finance its war effort in Ukraine since 2022.
These strikes often cause large fires, but it is still difficult to assess their impact on Russian oil production.
On the Ukrainian side, the railway company announced the death of one of its workers following a strike that hit a train in the southern Zaporozhye region.
Trump praises Zelensky
Politically, US President Donald Trump praised the performance of his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, in the ongoing war with Russia, in light of the recent intensification of Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian sites.
Trump said in a press conference yesterday, Wednesday, at the White House, that Zelensky is “doing well” in the war, in contradiction to his previous statement in which he said that the Ukrainian president lacks “pressure and bargaining cards to win.”
While praising Zelensky, Trump said to reporters, “He’s holding up, at least. There are a lot of people dying on both sides, but I think he’s doing well.”
Last week, Trump, who confirms his closeness to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, held a lengthy dialogue with Zelensky and French President Emmanuel Macron, on the sidelines of the G7 summit held last week in France.
Macron stated that Trump acknowledged during the talks at the G7 summit that Russia does not want peace in Ukraine, considering that this represents a “real shift” in the United States’ approach towards Ukraine.
In statements that sparked cautious optimism among G7 leaders about the possibility of reaching an agreement to stop the war, Trump himself called on Russia to make peace with Ukraine after a meeting he described as “very good” with his Ukrainian counterpart.
Lavrov was puzzled
In contrast, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said yesterday, Wednesday, at an event in Moscow, that Russia is looking forward to knowing whether the American President has changed his position regarding the Ukraine war.
He added, “The Americans have not yet informed us about what they concluded at the Evian Summit or what their future steps are.”
Lavrov repeatedly stressed that Moscow wants to continue talking with the United States and looks forward to what Trump envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will say in their next visit to Moscow.
But he expressed his objection to the continuation of US sanctions on Russia and the United States not setting any limits on the weapons it sells to European countries in support of Ukraine.
