A hospital in Sumy was bombed in a wave of attacks on Ukraine that led Volodymyr Zelenskyy to declare Vladimir Putin had “effectively rejected” a ceasefire – immediately after the Russian president told Donald Trump he would halt strikes against Ukraine’s energy grid and infrastructure. The Kremlin said after Trump and Putin’s call that the Russian president had given immediate orders for such strikes to stop.
Soon after the call, air raid sirens wailed and explosions rang out in Ukraine. Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s president, said “there have been hits, specifically on civilian infrastructure”. Local reports said the city of Slovyansk was partly blacked out after power infrastructure was damaged. Zelenskyy said more than 40 Russian drones were launched by Russia. He added: “It is precisely such night attacks by Russia that destroy our energy systems, our infrastructure, the normal life of Ukrainians. Today, Putin de facto rejected the proposal for a complete ceasefire.
