Russian attacks over two consecutive days have left more than 70 people dead in Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has criticized the U.S. for its reluctance to assist, requesting expanded access to Starlink services to target Russian missile launch sites. He also criticized the U.S. for simultaneously discussing economic cooperation while describing diplomatic efforts as deadlocked.
Reuters reported that Russian attacks in eastern Ukraine have killed at least 35 people, bringing the total death toll over the past two days to more than 70. President Zelenskyy accused the U.S. of being unwilling to provide assistance.
Kramatorsk, in eastern Ukraine, has been battered by the conflict; two buses were destroyed in blasts there. Zelenskyy criticized Washington for seeking to develop economic ties with Russia while simultaneously attempting to mediate a war that has lasted over four years.
Municipal authorities stated that a fresh drone attack in the evening killed two more people, bringing the total death toll in Kramatorsk to 35.
Russian guided bombs killed two people in a village in the southeastern Dnipropetrovsk region, while one person died in the western city of Ivano-Frankivsk.
Yesterday, Russia launched massive drone and missile attacks that killed dozens of people across Ukraine; notably, 22 people died in a residential building in Pryluky, a central town located approximately 130 kilometers east of Kyiv.
Zelenskyy stated this afternoon that attacks across Ukraine over the past two days have resulted in 78 deaths and 215 injuries.
Zelenskyy has called on the U.S. to expand Ukraine’s access to Starlink satellite services to help target Russian missile launch sites. He said emphatically, “Open Starlink for Ukraine. You opened it when responding to the situation in Iran… I have been very direct: give it to us, help us defend our skies and gain the upper hand. Then Russian President Putin will come to the negotiating table.”
In recent months, Ukraine has strived to wrest the battlefield initiative from Russia; while Russia’s rate of advance has slowed this year, Ukraine continues to suffer from Moscow’s air strikes.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently suggested the conflict was at a stalemate and that efforts to facilitate a settlement would continue. Zelenskyy responded, “So where is the truth? Where is the integrity? Where is the stalemate?… This is simply a matter of unwillingness.”
Zelenskyy added, “It is impossible to discuss future economic plans with the Russians on one hand, while claiming we are in some sort of… diplomatic stalemate on the other.”
High-ranking U.S. and Russian officials—reportedly including Jared Kushner, son-in-law of U.S. President Trump—have held talks regarding bringing U.S. investors into the Nord Stream gas pipeline project. The pipeline had supplied gas to Germany prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Zelenskyy added that Ukrainian negotiators would travel to the U.S. in the coming days to urge Trump to strengthen sanctions against Russia.