RUSSIA has stepped up its savage bombing campaign on Ukraine despite hopes of an end to the war.
The attacks comes as Vladimir Putin is set to meet Trump in an historic summit for Ukraine peace talks.
Video footage shows the Kremlin’s forces striking a key bridge in Kherson, which it failed to dislodge in six massive aerial attacks.
The blitzing of the key crossing in the Korabelny district of the city comes as Russian war channels suggest sabotage groups will seek to capture this major city close to the frontline, a claim strongly disputed by Ukraine.
Separate footage shows Shahed-2 drones striking Dnipropetrovsk region, where four were injured including a woman, 69.
Putin’s forces also killed at least three Ukrainians in Nikopol, including Danylo Khizhnyak, 23-year-old rescuer who ran to help after the first strike, in a deliberate attack on first responders – despite the talks with Trump during envoy Steve Witkoff’s visit to Moscow.
Separately, the Russians killed a 62-year-old civilian woman in Huliaipole, near the frontline in Zaporizhzhia region.
And Moscow released visuals of this week’s joint war games with China – Maritime Interaction-2025 – in which the two repressive states conducted artillery combat on a ‘simulated enemy’ in a show of strength to the West.
The incidents question whether Putin is serious in a desire for peace despite reports Trump is seeking face-to-face talks with the dictator in the next week following his envoy Witkoff’s three hour Kremlin session with Putin.
Asked if Putin may be fooling Trump, the US president replied: “Can’t answer the question yet. I’ll tell you in a matter of weeks, maybe less. But we made a lot of progress.”
Meanwhile he vowed more sanctions against countries trading oil with Russia, so funding the Putin war machine.
“We did it with India, we’re doing it probably with a couple of others. One of them could be China,” said Trump.
Trump said a face to face encounter with Putin could come by next week.
“There’s a good chance that there will be a meeting very soon,” he said.
But he cautioned the progress made was not a “breakthrough”.
His secretary of state Marco Rubio said many obstacles still needed to be overcome.
Ukraine sought to increase pressure on Putin with precision strikes on key military and strategic targets in overnight action.
Volodymyr Zelensky’s forces reportedly hit a Russian military unit in Slavyansk-na-Kubani in Krasnodar region.
“Eyewitnesses observe a fire in the area of the military unit,” said a report.
Reports said the strike was against military unit 61661.
A spectacular and “massive” inferno was burning at Afipsky Refinery in the same region after 6am explosions which “rocked the facility, with flames lighting up the sky”.
It is one of the largest refineries in southern Russia.
Ukraine also targeted air defence units near Kerch in occupied Crimea, according to reports.
And they hit the Surovikino railway station triggering a fire in Volgograd region, where a temporary airport closure was enforced.
This was another in a series of recent strikes aimed at disrupting Putin’s rail transport system, especially involving military cargoes.
Earlier, unmanned boats were reported to be attacking key port Novorossiysk, in Krasnodar region.
Russia claimed to have “repelled” the 4am attack, but there was no independent verification.
