WASHINGTON/MOSCOW/KYIV: US President Donald Trump said Vladimir Putin had “gone absolutely CRAZY” by unleashing the largest aerial attack of the war on Ukraine and said he was weighing new sanctions on Moscow, though he also scolded Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Trump posted the remark on Truth Social as sleeping Ukrainians woke to a third consecutive night of massive Russian aerial attacks, listening for hours to drones buzzing near their homes and eruptions of Ukrainian anti-aircraft fire.
The Ukrainian air force said Russia had launched 355 drones and nine cruise missiles against Ukraine overnight, a huge salvo that the air force’s spokesman said made it Russia’s largest drone attack of the war to date.
“Something has happened to him (Putin). He has gone absolutely CRAZY!” Trump said of the Russian president on Truth Social.“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!”Trump also criticised Zelensky, posting that the Ukrainian leader “is 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 Kremlin, asked about Trump’s specific remarks about Putin being “crazy,” thanked the US people and Trump in person for their assistance in launching peace negotiations but suggested Trump and others might be emotionally overloaded.
“This is a very crucial moment, which is associated, of course, with the emotional overload of everyone absolutely and with emotional reactions,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.Swarms of drones are being launched by both sides while fierce fighting is underway along key parts of the front. The Ukrainian air force said the overnight Russian attack hit targets in five locations, but did not elaborate, implying military damage.
The western region of Khmelnytskyi, which is home to a military airbase, was targeted by seven cruise missiles and scores of drones, and residential buildings and industrial facilities sustained damage, officials said. A 14-year-old boy was reported injured in the Black Sea region of Odesa.
The Russian defence ministry said its strike hit targets at Ukraine’s Starokostiantyniv airbase in Khmelnytskyi region. The Kremlin said the attacks were directed at military targets and that the strikes were a response to significant Ukrainian attacks on Russian civilian targets.
Zelensky, in a post on X, did not directly address Trump’s criticism, but said the world appeared to be spending more effort on dialogue with Putin than with actually exerting real pressure on the Kremlin chief.Russia, Zelensky said, can only be constrained by force, and called again for additional sanctions on Russia.
