Just hours after the high-profile meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska ended without a breakthrough, Russia launched a massive overnight assault on Ukraine.
According to Kyiv, Russia fired 85 Shahed attack drones and an Iskander-M ballistic missile late Friday night into Saturday morning, targeting frontline positions across four regions. Ukraine’s Air Force reported that its air defenses successfully shot down 61 drones, but several strikes still reached their intended targets.
The timing of the assault coincided directly with the Trump–Putin summit, which concluded without an agreement on a ceasefire, despite growing pressure from Western allies on Moscow to halt hostilities.
Putin described the Alaska talks as “a starting point” for resolving the conflict, while Trump acknowledged “progress” but confirmed that no deal had been reached. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has yet to publicly respond to the outcome of the meeting.
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, launched in February 2022, has already claimed tens of thousands of lives, with no signs of de-escalation.
