RUSSIA has stepped up its savage bombing campaign on Ukraine despite hopes of an end to the war.
The attacks comes as Vladimir Putin is set to meet Trump in an historic summit for Ukraine peace talks.
AFP or licensorsPutin is set to meet Trump in a historic summit[/caption]
East2WestVideo footage shows the Kremlin’s forces striking a key bridge in Kherson[/caption]
Putin greets Trump’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff in Moscow for last-minute talks
Video footage shows the Kremlin’s forces striking a key bridge in Kherson, which it failed to dislodge in six massive aerial attacks.
Russian war channels suggest sabotage groups will seek to capture the major city, which is close to the front-line – a claim strongly disputed by Ukraine.
Separate footage shows Shahed-2 drones striking Dnipropetrovsk region, where four were injured including a 69-year-old woman.
Putin’s forces also killed at least three Ukrainians in Nikopol, including Danylo Khizhnyak, a 23-year-old firsts responder.
Separately, the Russians killed a 62-year-old civilian woman in Huliaipole, near the frontline in Zaporizhzhia region.
Moscow released visuals of this week’s joint war games with China – Maritime Interaction-2025 – in which the two repressive states conducted artillery combat on a ‘simulated enemy’ in a show of strength to the West.
The savage onslaught comes amid reports of a planned meeting between Trump and Putin to discuss an end to the war.
Trump discussed the potential meeting with Putin yesterday during a call with Zelensky and other European leaders, the New York Times reports.
Sir Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Nato chief Mark Rutte were among those on the call.
Both Putin and Zelensky have yet to make a response about the meeting that could mark the beginning of the end of Putin’s invasion.
When asked if he thought Putin was serious about the talks, Trump told reporters: “Can’t answer the question yet. I’ll tell you in a matter of weeks, maybe less. But we made a lot of progress.”
The US president has since vowed to impose more sanctions on countries trading oil with Russia in a bid to stop the raging war machine.
“We did it with India, we’re doing it probably with a couple of others. One of them could be China,” said Trump.
White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly added that Trump “has been clear that there will be biting sanctions if Putin does not agree to end the war”.
The last face-to-face meet
DONALD Trump and Vladimir Putin last met in person at the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, on June 28, 2019.
It was during Trump’s first term as the president of America.
The meeting is widely remembered for a moment where Trump, with a smile, publicly warned the Russian leader: “Don’t meddle in the election, please.”
Their private discussions reportedly touched upon arms control, trade, and regional security issues.
The Kremlin has hit back and says threats to penalise countries that trade with Russia are illegal.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev previously warned: “Each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war.”
Sources told The New York Post that Witkoff had been encouraged to take a sterner approach to Wednesday’s make-or-break meeting.
They said Trump’s administration is “pushing hard for a deal”.
On July 14, Trump said he would impose 100 per cent import duties on Russia and its trading partners if Moscow and US didn’t reach an agreement on a Ukraine peace deal within 50 days.
On July 29, Trump said he had decided to reduce this period to 10 days.
Russian sources said Putin is sceptical that more sanctions will have any impact after waves of economic penalties during the ongoing war.
They said the Russian president doesn’t want to anger Trump – and he realises that he may be ruining a chance to improve relations with the US and the West.
It comes a day after Russia declared there are now “no limits” on its deployment of nuclear missiles.
Dozens have been killed in Vlad’s latest attacksEast2West
East2WestRussia struck the Dnipropetrovsk region in Ukraine[/caption]
An explosion in the Dnipropetrovsk region in UkraineEast2West
Ukraine sought to increase pressure on Putin with precision strikes on key military and strategic targets in overnight action.
Volodymyr Zelensky’s forces reportedly hit a Russian military unit in Slavyansk-na-Kubani in Krasnodar region.
“Eyewitnesses observe a fire in the area of the military unit,” said a report.
Reports said the strike was against military unit 61661.
A spectacular and “massive” inferno was burning at Afipsky Refinery in the same region after 6am explosions which “rocked the facility, with flames lighting up the sky”.
It is one of the largest refineries in southern Russia.
Ukraine also targeted air defence units near Kerch in occupied Crimea, according to reports.
And they hit the Surovikino railway station triggering a fire in Volgograd region, where a temporary airport closure was enforced.
This was another in a series of recent strikes aimed at disrupting Putin’s rail transport system, especially involving military cargoes.
Earlier, unmanned boats were reported to be attacking key port Novorossiysk, in Krasnodar region.
Russia claimed to have “repelled” the 4am attack, but there was no independent verification.
East2WestPutin’s forces killed at least three Ukrainians in Nikopol[/caption]
An explosion of a drone lights up the sky over the city during a Russian drone strike Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
