Russia strikes Ukraine after Trump says Putin agreed to week-long halt

Moscow: Russia launched a ballistic missile and more than 100 drones at Ukraine overnight, none of which hit Kyiv, after US President Donald Trump’s statement that Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to pause air strikes on the capital and other “various towns” until February 1.

The Ukrainian Air Force reported on January 30 that Russian launched an Iskander-M ballistic

missile and 111 attack drones at Ukraine, including the southeastern region of Zaporizhzhya.

The overnight attacks came after Trump said he had asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to halt strikes on Kyiv after weeks of pummeling Ukrainian energy sites that left tens of thousands of civilians without electricity and heating amid freezing cold temperatures that are forecast to dip to as low as minus 30 degrees Celsius in the coming days.

Trump said late Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed not to target the Ukrainian capital and other

towns for one week, as the region experiences frigid temperatures that have brought hardship to civilians.

Trump didn’t say when the call with Putin took place or when the moratorium would go into effect, and the White House didn’t immediately respond to a query seeking clarity about the scope and timing of any limited pause. There was no immediate confirmation from the Kremlin that Putin has committed to the move.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was skeptical about Putin’s readiness for such a step as Russia’s all-out invasion, which began on Feb. 24, 2022, approaches its four-year

anniversary next month with no signs that Moscow is willing to reach a peace settlement despite a US-led push to end the fighting.