'Vladimir, STOP!' Trump says to Putin after deadliest Russian strike on Kyiv in months

[ad_1] LONDON -- No less than 12 individuals had been killed and dozens extra had been injured in an in a single day Russian assault on a number of districts and residential areas in Kyiv, Ukrainian officers mentioned on Thursday, prompting President Donald Trump to concern a directive to Russian President Vladimir Putin: "Vladimir, STOP!"

"I'm not pleased with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not obligatory, and really dangerous timing," Trump mentioned on social media on Thursday. "Vladimir, STOP! 5000 troopers per week are dying. Lets get the Peace Deal DONE!"

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine, who's touring in South Africa, mentioned Thursday he would cancel a part of his deliberate go to and return to Ukraine sooner than anticipated.

"This can be very necessary that everybody around the globe sees and understands what is actually taking place," he mentioned. "Practically 70 missiles, together with ballistic ones. And about 150 assault drones."

Broken vehicles lie in a yard with different particles after a Russian ballistic missile assault in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, April 24, 2025.

Efrem Lukatsky/AP

Ukrainian searchers clear the rubble after a Russian ballistic missile assault in Kyiv, Ukraine, early Thursday, April 24, 2025.

Efrem Lukatsky/AP

The Russian assault got here amid intensifying negotiations to finish the conflict, with White Home officers pressuring Zelenskyy and Ukraine to just accept a possible peace plan that will embrace ceding land to Russia, in response to a senior Ukrainian official. Trump on Wednesday accused Zelenskyy of prolonging "the 'killing area."

No less than 80 individuals had been injured within the assaults, in response to Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv Metropolis Navy Administration.

Six kids had been among the many injured, the emergency service mentioned.

Ukrainian rescuers carry the physique of a sufferer as they function on the web site of a Russian missile assault in Kyiv on April 24, 2025, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Genya Savilov/AFP by way of Getty Pictures

"In a single day, Russia held an enormous assault on Ukraine," the Ministry of Protection mentioned. "Cruise missiles, drones, ballistic weapons -- one more strike on peaceable cities and Ukrainian properties."

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed the strike, saying the Russian "navy continues to satisfy its duties, that are set by the supreme commander-in-chief." He added that navy orders from Moscow embrace putting "navy and near-military targets."

Rescue operations had been persevering with early on Thursday within the capital, the place first responders had been digging by means of the rubble of residential buildings for survivors, protection officers mentioned.

Ukrainian rescuers carry the physique of a sufferer as they function on the web site of a Russian missile assault in Kyiv on April 24, 2025, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Genya Savilov/AFP by way of Getty Pictures

"These assaults are one more affirmation -- Russia will not be looking for peace. It continues to kill Ukrainians," the ministry mentioned on social media.

Outdoors of Kyiv, Russia additionally focused the Zhytomyr, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Poltava, Khmelnytskyi, Sumy and Zaporizhzhia areas in a single day into Thursday, the ministry mentioned.

"Whereas claiming to hunt peace, Russia launched a lethal airstrike on Kyiv," Kaja Kallas, the European Union's excessive consultant for International Affairs, mentioned on social media. "This is not a pursuit of peace, it’s a mockery of it. The actual impediment will not be Ukraine however Russia, whose conflict goals haven't modified."