1 killed in Crimea attack as Putin and Zelenskyy hold separate Trump calls – National
One person was killed during the Ukrainian attack on Crimea, Moscow officials said early Sunday, while the leaders of Russia and Ukraine held separate phone calls with US President Donald Trump about ending the war, which is now in its fifth year.
Two others were injured in the attack in northern Crimea, including one in critical condition, said Gov. Sergei Aksyonov of the region posted in Russia on Telegram. He did not provide details of the attack.
In recent weeks Ukraine has stepped up its attacks on key targets and infrastructure in Crimea as Kyiv’s military seeks to isolate the key Russian-held peninsula in the latest phase of the war.
The peninsula was forcibly and illegally annexed by Moscow in 2014. Ukraine’s increased use of long-range strikes has highlighted its ability to inflict devastating damage on Russia and put more pressure on the Kremlin while Moscow’s advances have recently stalled, Western analysts and officials said.
The latest attack came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke to Trump about ending the war.
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Writing in X, Zelenskyy said he called to congratulate Trump on celebrating 250 years of American independence and that the two leaders had discussed the situation before.
“There is a real hope of ending this war, and America’s determination will be very important. We have agreed to continue the dialogue in person during the NATO meeting in Ankara,” he said late Saturday.
The Kremlin said Putin and Trump discussed the Ukraine conflict in a “constructive” phone call on Saturday.
Kremlin foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov said Putin congratulated Trump and the American people on the 250th anniversary of America’s independence during the nearly hour-and-a-half phone call, their fourth conversation so far this year.
Ushakov said that Trump has confirmed his “readiness to help quickly end the conflict and seek peaceful solutions to the problem” in Ukraine, while Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will continue mediation efforts and are ready to visit Moscow.
A Kremlin adviser said Putin reiterated “Russia’s preference for resolving disputes diplomatically, as long as Russia’s most prominent and important positions are taken into account.”
At the same time, Putin accused Kyiv and its European partners of “betting on expansion, and they escalated the conflict,” arguing that the “European war group” comes from a wrong perception of the whole situation and the state of things in the way of communication, “said Ushakov.
He added that Putin told Trump “about the real situation on the battlefield, where Russian soldiers are advancing confidently, liberating settlements one after another.”
The Russian leader specifically mentioned the capture of the Ukrainian base of Kostyantynivka, describing it as an important step in the “liberation” of the entire Donetsk region.
Kyiv has denied Russia’s claim to have kidnapped Kostyantynivka. Ukraine’s General Staff also said the troubled city was still under Ukrainian control in a statement to Telegram on Sunday, a day after Zelenskyy said Russia’s alleged takeover was “another Russian lie.”
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