Moscow claims latest aerial assaults on Ukraine are ‘a response strike’ to Kyiv’s attacks
Dmitry Peskov said the latest drone and missile attacks on Ukraine – the heaviest recorded so far in the war – are in reaction to Kyiv’s attacks on Russian infrastructure.
“We have seen how the Ukrainians have been hitting our social infrastructure, peaceful infrastructure. This is a response strike. It’s a strike against military facilities, military targets,” the Kremlin spokesperson has been quoted by BBC News as having said.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has been speaking to journalists at a Kremlin press briefing. Photograph: Yuri Kochetkov/Reuters
Key events
Reuters has a quick snap, citing Der Spiegel, that Volodymyr Zelenskyy will visit Berlin on Wednesday.
Macron says Trump realises Putin has ‘lied’ about Ukraine and wants his new rhetoric to ‘translate into action’
French president Emmanuel Macron, who is on a diplomatic trip to Vietnam, has been asked about Russia’s continuing attacks.
He said he thinks Donald Trump is realising aspects of Vladimir Putin’s lies regarding Ukraine, adding that he hopes the US president’s anger at Putin will “translate into action” (presumably meaning sanctions, along with the EU).
We will give you more comments as they come in.
Last month, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said China was supplying weapons to Russia, including gunpowder and artillery, and that Chinese representatives were involved in weapons production on Russian territory. He citedreporting by Ukrainian security and intelligence agencies.
China dismissed the accusations as “groundless” in response, with the country’s foreign minister saying Beijing has been trying to push for a ceasefire in the war and have been promoting peace talks.
As my colleague Dan Sabbagh notes in this story, Russia makes heavy use of Chinese-made components in its arms industry, and Ukraine does so to some extent.
Both sides make significant use of Mavic drones from the Chinese manufacturer DJI, though Kyiv is trying to reduce its dependence on products from Beijing.
In February 2022, China and Russia declared a “no limits” partnership when Vladimir Putin visited Beijing to meet Xi Jinping shortly before he launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, China, on 4 February 2022. Photograph: SPUTNIK/Reuters
China supplying equipment to Russia, Ukraine says
Ukraine has said that China is supplying a range of important products to Russian military plants, the chief of Ukrainian foreign intelligence told Ukrinform news agency.
Oleh Ivashchenko said:
There is information that China is delivering machines, special chemicals, gunpowder, and components specifically to military-purpose enterprises. We have confirmed data on 20 Russian factories.
Here is a snippet of the Ukrinform report, which we have not yet independently verified.
According to Ivashchenko, at least five instances of “aviation-related cooperation” with China were recorded in 2024–2025, involving equipment, spare parts, and documentation. Additionally, six major shipments of special chemicals were identified.
The intelligence chief also noted that as of early 2025, 80% of critical electronics used in Russian drones originate from China. This includes cases of mislabeled items, deceptive product naming, and the use of shell companies to smuggle necessary components for microelectronics production from China into Russia.
Russia’s defence ministry said earlier today that air defence systems had downed 96 Ukrainian drones, including six over the Moscow region.
Moscow claims latest aerial assaults on Ukraine are ‘a response strike’ to Kyiv’s attacks
Dmitry Peskov said the latest drone and missile attacks on Ukraine – the heaviest recorded so far in the war – are in reaction to Kyiv’s attacks on Russian infrastructure.
“We have seen how the Ukrainians have been hitting our social infrastructure, peaceful infrastructure. This is a response strike. It’s a strike against military facilities, military targets,” the Kremlin spokesperson has been quoted by BBC News as having said.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has been speaking to journalists at a Kremlin press briefing. Photograph: Yuri Kochetkov/Reuters
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has held his regular media briefing with journalists. When asked for reaction to Donald Trump’s criticism of Vladimir Putin (see post at 08.41) by the BBC’s Russia editor Steve Rosenberg, Peskov thanked the US for its role in trying to bring an end to the war through its mediation efforts, which have so far faltered, but suggested Russian strikes against Ukraine are being launched for security and self-defence. He said in the conference call with reporters:
It’s a very important achievement. Of course, at the same time this is a very important moment which is connected to an emotional overload of everyone involved and emotional reactions.
We carefully monitor all the reactions. However, President Putin takes those decisions which are necessary for the security of our country.
We all witnessed how the Kyiv regime threatened foreign leaders before they came to Moscow to commemorate Victory Day. Everyone heard these threats by the Kyiv regime.
And many leaders who were here witnessed attempts by the Kyiv regime to strike Russian territory with drones, large cities, even the capital, on the eve of such an important day. These attempts continue. We are forced to take measures and President Putin does what is necessary to provide security for Russia.
Russia should be hit with a freeze on its finances and increased sanctions in response to continuing strikes – Zelenskyy
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has shared a social media post after the record drone attack on Ukraine last night that was launched by Russia despite mounting international pressure for a halt in hostilities.
He said in a post on X that 355 attack UAVs were launched last night, along with nine cruise missiles, which damaged “civilian infrastructure” and injured people.
The attacks stretched from the Chernihiv region of northern Ukraine to the Khmelnytskyi region in the west, and from the north-eastern region of Kharkiv to the southwestern Odesa region, Zelenskyy said.
He continued:
Only a sense of total impunity can allow Russia to carry out such strikes and continue increasing their scale. There is no real military logic to this, but there is significant political meaning.
In doing this, Putin shows just how much he despises the world – the world that spends more effort on “dialogue” with him than on real pressure. Like any criminal, Russia can only be constrained by force.
Only through strength – the strength of the United States, of Europe, of all nations that value life – can these attacks be stopped and real peace achieved.
The increase in Russian strikes should be met with increased sanctions. Russia’s disregard for diplomacy and refusal even to consider a ceasefire must be met with a freeze on Russian finances and a halt to its oil trade.
In his comments to German news programme Tagesschau, German foreign minister Johann Wadephul made reference to the major prisoner swap between Ukraine and Russia that concluded yesterday (the exchange was agreed during talks in Istanbul just over a week ago). Here is some more detail on the swap:
Ukraine and Russia on Sunday completed a “1,000 for 1,000” prisoner swap after three days of exchanges.
Russia’s defence ministry said each side exchanged 303 soldiers yesterday, following the release of 307 combatants and civilians each on Saturday, and 390 on Friday – the biggest total swap of the war.
Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of PoWs said those released included 70 men who had been involved in the defence of Mariupol during the Russian siege in 2022.
Russian servicemen board a bus upon arrival to Chkalovsky airport, outside Moscow after returning from captivity as part of the PoW exchange between Russia and Ukraine. Photograph: Russian Defense Ministry Press Service photo via APUkrainian serviceman Vitaly kisses his wife, Olena, in the Chernyhiv region of Ukraine after returning from captivity during the PoW exchange. Photograph: Efrem Lukatsky/AP
Putin doesn’t want peace, German minister says, as he backs new sanctions against Russia
Kate Connolly
Kate Connolly is the Guardian’s Berlin correspondent
Germany’s new foreign minister Johann Wadephul has said his country backs new sanctions against Russia in response to the latest barrage of attacks on Ukraine in which 12 people died, amounting to the worst since the full-scale invasion began, according to Kyiv.
“You can see that Putin doesn’t want peace,” Wadephul told German news programme Tagesschau. Wadephul said that European partners “must respond decisively” against Russian aggression, which showed no signs of abating.
“The international community cannot tolerate this,” and Russian president Vladimir Putin is “trampling on human rights”. He added that this was also an “affront to US president Donald Trump, who tried to bring the Kremlin chief to the negotiating table,” using language which Berlin will be hoping Washington might pick up on.
“And now, this reaction. You can see that Putin doesn’t want peace, he wants to continue the war, and we cannot allow him to do that,” Wadephul said.
A further set of sanctions were already being prepared by European partners, he said. “There will be a clear reaction from the west, and I think also from the United States of America,” the effects of which he said would be “financially painful for Russia”.
He called the recent prisoner-exchange swap, the largest to date, a “very small but welcome” step.
Discussions would continue to take place on what a ceasefire might look like, and Germany continued to be supportive of Trump’s initiative in this direction, he stressed.
German foreign minister Johann Wadephul has said Vladimir Putin wants to continue the war in Ukraine. Photograph: Annegret Hilse/Reuters
Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin had a two-hour phone call to discuss a US-proposed Ukraine ceasefire deal last Monday, which the US president said had gone “very well” .
Trump said after the call that Russia and Ukraine would immediately start negotiations for a ceasefire, but the Kremlin said the process would take time and the US president indicated he was not ready to join Europe with fresh sanctions to pressure Moscow.
European leaders, however, decided to increase pressure on Russia through sanctions after Trump briefed them on his call with the Russian leader, who appears unwilling to budge from his maximalist positions.
Putin has only said that Moscow would work with Kyiv to craft a “memorandum” on a “possible future peace”. He has declined to support the US-proposed 30-day unconditional ceasefire, which Ukraine has publicly agreed to.
‘What the hell happened to him?’: Trump rebukes Putin after recent Ukraine attacks – video
Here is a video of US President Donald Trump saying he was seriously considering “putting more sanctions on Russia” following heavy Russian attacks on Ukraine in recent days.
‘What the hell happened to him?’: Trump rebukes Putin after recent Ukraine attacks – video
Russia’s overnight attack was largest drone assault of war so far, Ukrainian air force says
Russia’s overnight attack on Ukraine was the largest drone assault since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine’s air force said on Monday.
Russia launched 355 drones and nine cruise missiles against Ukraine since Sunday evening, against the previous record of 298 drones and 69 missiles which were launched by Russia on Saturday night into Sunday morning.
The air force said all missiles launched last night were shot down, while 288 UAVs and drones were “neutralised”.
The Guardian’s senior international correspondent, Peter Beaumont, has written some analysis on the state of the war as Russia intensifies its assault on Ukraine and ignores calls for a ceasefire. Here is an extract from his piece:
Ukrainian and western officials anticipate that Russia will once again attempt a large-scale offensive during the summer, even if they are highly sceptical that it will be effective given Moscow’s punishing losses.
The reality is that with deadlock on the ground, the escalating long-range drone war on both sides is becoming ever more significant, even if it cannot conquer territory.
As it has become ever larger, with Russian and Ukrainian factories turning out thousands of new drones, it has become more sophisticated with Moscow’s employment of big numbers of decoys and systems designed to fool air defence systems.
While Ukraine has targeted bases and factories, including those producing fibre optic cable for a new generation of small combat zones, the purpose on Russia’s side appears aimed solely at undermining morale on the home front. In recent days, drones and missiles have hit apartment blocks, homes and a student dormitory.
Ukrainian rescuers work at the site of a residential area struck by a rocket in an overnight Russian strike on a village near Kyiv. The picture was taken on 25 May 2025. Photograph: Sergey Dolzhenko/EPA
As we mentioned in the opening post, Ukrainian officials reported Russian strikes overnight to Monday, but not on the same scale as those that struck Ukraine across the weekend.
Two people were injured and a house was destroyed in the Zaporizhzhia region when “the enemy struck the village of Yurkivka”, Ivan Fedorov, the governor of the region, said in a Telegram post on Monday.
Kyiv and Odesa were among the other areas to have been targeted overnight. There were no immediate reports of casualties in either location.
Russian attacks continue on Ukraine despite Trump’s criticism of Putin
Welcome back to our live coverage of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Kyiv has been attacked by Russian drones for a third night in a row despite Donald Trump warning that if Vladimir Putin attempts to conquer all of Ukraine it will lead to the “downfall” of Russia.
“I’ve always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him. He has gone absolutely CRAZY!” the US president wrote in a social media post yesterday, adding, “I’ve always said that he wants ALL of Ukraine, not just a piece of it, and maybe that’s proving to be right, but if he does, it will lead to the downfall of Russia!”
Trump also criticised Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whom he has an uneasy relationship with, posting that he “is doing his Country no favours by talking the way he does. Everything out of his mouth causes problems, I don’t like it, and it better stop.”
In separate comments to reporters on Sunday night, Trump said:
I don’t know what the hell happened to Putin. I’ve known him a long time. Always gotten along with him. But he’s sending rockets into cities and killing people, and I don’t like it at all.
Asked if he was considering more sanctions on Russia, something the EU is pushing for but Washington has so far been reluctant to back, Trump said: “Absolutely.”
Donald Trump seems to be losing is patience with both Vladimir Putin (pictured, right) and Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Composite: EPA
Trump’s comments came after Russian strikes killed at least 12 people in Ukraine overnight into Sunday, with the highest number of drones and missiles launched in a single night since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Ukraine’s air force said on Sunday morning that Russia had attacked the country with 298 drones and 69 missiles overnight from Saturday. It said it downed 45 missiles and 266 drones.
Zelenskyy called for fresh sanctions on Russia after the attack and said “silence” from the US and “others around the world” was encouraging Vladimir Putin’s intensifying assault.
On Sunday night, attacks from Moscow continued, though they were reported to be less widespread. A series of fires were reported in private households across the Odesa region following Russian drone strikes.
Ukraine’s air force reported incursions by drones and UAVs overnight, but said the threat had been successfully repelled for all regions by the early morning.
Meanwhile, the head of Kyiv’s military administration, Timur Tkachenko, said that Russian strikes caused damage in the Dnipro district of the Ukrainian capital, in what was the third consecutive night of attacks on the city.
“Windows were broken in one of the residential buildings. Also, falling debris was recorded on the territory of a garage cooperative and a recreation facility,” Tkachenko said, but confirmed there were no immediate reports of casualties.
Explosions are seen in the night sky from Kyiv as Ukrainian servicemen fire towards drones during a Russian drone strike. Photograph: Gleb Garanich/Reuters
