Russian strike kills 5 in Ukraine, including a 1-year-old, hours after
Trump-Putin call
[June 05, 2025]
By HANNA ARHIROVA and ILLIA NOVIKOV
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — At least five people, including a 1-year-old child,
his mother and grandmother, were killed Thursday in a nighttime Russian
drone strike that hit the northern Ukrainian city of Pryluky, officials
said.
Six drones hit a residential area in the city shortly before dawn,
according to authorities. The child killed was the grandson of an
emergency responder, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
“One of the rescuers arrived to respond to the aftermath right at his
own home,” Zelenskyy said in a post on Telegram. “It turned out that a
Shahed drone hit his house.”
The attack came just hours after U.S. President Donald Trump spoke by
phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to Trump, Putin
said “very strongly” that Russia will retaliate for Ukraine’s weekend
stunning drone attacks on Russian military airfields.
U.S.-led diplomatic efforts to stop the more than 3-year-long war have
delivered no significant progress, and the grinding war of attrition has
continued unabated.
The mother of the 1-year-old killed in Pryluky was a police officer
called Daryna Shyhyda, Ukraine’s National Police said.
“Today our hearts are scorched by pain,” the police force wrote on
Telegram. “This is not just a loss — it is three generations of life
uprooted.”
Drones struck across regions
Six people were wounded in the Pryluky attack and are in hospital,
officials said.
Pryluky, which had a prewar population of around 50,000 people, lies
about 100 kilometers (60 miles) east of Kyiv, the capital. The city is
far from the front line and does not contain any known military assets.
The last time Pryluky was struck was in November last year, when a
Russian missile hit an administrative building and injured one person.
Zelenskyy said a total of 103 drones and one ballistic missile targeted
multiple Ukrainian regions overnight, including Donetsk, Kharkiv, Odesa,
Sumy, Chernihiv, Dnipro and Kherson.
“This is another massive strike,” Zelenskyy said. “It is yet another
reason to impose the strongest possible sanctions and apply pressure
collectively.”
[to top of second column]
|
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service,
firefighters put out the fire following Russia's drone attack in the
Pryluky, Chernihiv region, Ukraine, Thursday, June 5, 2025.
(Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
US peace effort remains stalled
Zelenskyy, who has accepted a U.S. ceasefire proposal and offered to
meet with Putin in an attempt to break the stalemate in
negotiations, wants more international sanctions on Russia to force
it to accept a settlement. Putin has shown no willingness to meet
with Zelenskyy, however, and has indicated no readiness to
compromise.
Germany’s new leader Friedrich Merz was due to meet with President
Donald Trump in Washington on Thursday as he works to keep the U.S.
on board with Western diplomatic and military support for Ukraine.
Ukraine’s top presidential aide, Andriy Yermak, met with senior
American officials in Washington on Wednesday and called for greater
U.S. pressure on Russia, accusing the Kremlin of deliberately
stalling ceasefire talks and blocking progress toward peace,
according to a statement on the presidential website.
Yermak, who traveled to the U.S. as part of a Ukrainian delegation,
met with senior American officials to bolster support for Ukraine’s
defense and humanitarian priorities. He said Ukraine urgently needs
stronger air defense capabilities.
More people wounded in Kharkiv
Hours later, 19 people were injured in a Russian drone strike on the
eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. Those hurt included children, a
pregnant woman, and a 93-year-old woman, regional Gov. Oleh
Syniehubov wrote on Telegram.
At around 1:05 a.m., Shahed-type drones struck two apartment
buildings in the city’s Slobidskyi district, causing fires and
destroying several private vehicles.
“By launching attacks while people sleep in their homes, the enemy
once again confirms its tactic of insidious terror,” Syniehubov
wrote on Telegram.
Russian aircraft also dropped four powerful glide bombs on the
southern city of Kherson, injuring at least three people, regional
authorities said.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
