Bota Posted on 2025-03-19 09:47:00

After limited ceasefire, Russia and Ukraine exchange fire again!

From Edel Strazimiri

After limited ceasefire, Russia and Ukraine exchange fire again!

Russia and Ukraine have launched drone strikes on each other's territory, hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to stop targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure. Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia launched about 40 drones into Ukraine overnight, hitting civilian infrastructure including a hospital.

Zelenskyy said Russia had "effectively rejected the proposal for a complete ceasefire" agreed between Putin and US President Donald Trump after a long phone call on Tuesday.

Putin refused to support a full 30-day ceasefire initially proposed by the US, demanding that the West halt all military aid to Kiev before Moscow fully implemented such an agreement.

Within hours of the call, Zelenskyy said there were "strikes, especially on civilian infrastructure." " It is these kinds of nighttime attacks by Russia that are destroying our energy sector, our infrastructure and the normal life of Ukrainians ," Zelensky said, calling for the West to continue supplying weapons to Kiev.

On Wednesday morning, Ukrainian state railway company Ukrzaliznytsya said parts of the railway had been left without power after a Russian drone attack in Ukraine's central Dnipropetrovsk region.

Meanwhile, officials in the southern Russian region of Krasnodar Krai said a Ukrainian drone caused a small fire when it hit an oil depot. The Russian Defense Ministry said it had destroyed 57 Ukrainian drones overnight, most in the Kursk border region. Despite the attacks, Moscow and Kiev will exchange 175 prisoners on Wednesday, as agreed after a phone call between Putin and Trump.

Trump gave the call a positive outlook, with the White House describing it as the first step in a “movement toward peace.” The initial agreement, which Putin refused to fully support, included a naval ceasefire in the Black Sea and a cessation of fighting along the entire front line.

Trump denied the Kremlin's claim that Putin demanded an end to foreign military and intelligence aid to Ukraine, telling Fox News on Tuesday that the pair "didn't talk about help."

Zelenskyy said after the call that Ukraine is open to any proposal that leads to a lasting and just peace, adding that he is seeking more details about what Putin and Trump agreed to. He rejected Putin's demand to halt military aid and intelligence sharing to Ukraine.

The Kremlin said after the call that Moscow was prepared to work with the US on a "long-term" solution. Putin added, however, that the way out of the conflict was to address "the root causes of the crisis and Russia's legitimate security interests."

Russia has previously demanded that Ukraine withdraw its troops from four regions that Moscow claims to have annexed, abandon any prospect of joining NATO and sharply demilitarize over proposals that run counter to Kiev's ambitions for peace.

Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff told Fox News that discussions between Moscow and Washington will continue, with new talks scheduled to begin in Saudi Arabia on Sunday. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz will lead the US delegation.

Poll

Poll

Live TV

Latest news
All news

Most visited