Kyiv, Ukraine
CNN
—
Russia fired cruise and ballistic missiles at Ukraine in a major overnight attack, Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday, as the Ukrainian president renewed his plea for a partial ceasefire at the end of a week in which the United States suspended military aid and intelligence sharing with Kyiv.
Russia’s assault targeted several regions across Ukraine, using nearly 70 missiles and almost 200 drones, Zelensky said on X, adding that the “massive” attack was “directed against infrastructure that ensures normal life.”
Following the strikes, Zelensky again stressed his desire for a partial ceasefire – a plan first floated by French President Emmanuel Macron and since discussed by Ukraine’s European allies, who met Thursday in Brussels for a crucial European Union defense summit.
Echoing the plan outlined by Macron, Zelensky said he hoped there can be “silence in the skies – banning the use of missiles, long-range drones and aerial bombs,” as well as “silence at sea – a real guarantee of normal navigation.”
Zelensky reiterated that Ukraine is “ready to pursue the path to peace,” a point he has stressed repeatedly to the Trump administration this week, following his explosive dressing-down in the Oval Office last Friday.
Although Kyiv has since attempted to patch up relations with Washington – and US and Ukrainian officials are due to hold talks in Saudi Arabia next week –- the Trump administration has dealt further blows to Ukraine this week, pausing military shipments to the country and cutting off intelligence sharing.
After weeks of more amicable relations with Russia, Trump issued a surprising threat to Moscow on Friday, saying “based on the fact that Russia is absolutely ‘pounding’ Ukraine,” he is considering placing large-scale banking sanctions and tariffs on Russia until it agrees to a ceasefire and final peace settlement.
“To Russia and Ukraine, get to the table right now, before it is too late,” Trump said on TruthSocial.
But despite Trump’s harsh tone, the prospect of higher tariffs will mean little to Moscow, given the tiny amounts of trade between the US and Russia. Last year, Russia exported just $3.5 billion of goods to the US, according to the Office of the US Trade Representative.
The halting of American military equipment may have devastating effects on Ukraine’s capabilities and could leave millions of civilians vulnerable to Russian missile strikes.
Russia’s overnight barrage included 43 cruise missiles, including eight Kalibr cruise missiles, as well as three Iskander ballistic missiles and 194 drones, according to Ukraine’s air force.
The air force said it downed 134 projectiles, including 25 of the cruise missiles, all eight Kalibr missiles, a guided aircraft missile and 100 drones – but it was unable to repel the ballistic missiles, which travel at about five times the speed of sound.
However, it was unable to repel the ballistic missiles, which travel at about five times the speed of sound. The only weapon in Ukraine’s arsenal capable of downing ballistic missiles is the US-made Patriot system, which were already in short supply before the US cut off military aid to Kyiv.
Zelensky said that F-16 fighter jets, as well as Mirage aircraft provided by France, had been used to help repel the attack, and that the Mirages had successfully intercepted some of the cruise missiles.
Over the week since Zelensky’s disastrous meeting with US President Donald Trump, the Ukrainian leader has tacked more closely to his European allies. Led by Macron, several European leaders are pushing for a one-month ceasefire that could pave the way for a more lasting peace.
“The first steps toward real peace must include forcing the sole source of this war, Russia, to stop such attacks against life. And this is something that can be effectively monitored,” Zelensky said after the overnight attack.
Russian pressure in Kursk
Meanwhile, Ukraine is under severe pressure in Kursk and may soon lose a key logistical support route to its forces in the Russian region, according to Ukrainian and Russian military bloggers, after the arrival of fresh North Korean troops bolstered Russia’s offensive operations inside its own borders.
Ukraine launched a shock incursion into Kursk in August – the first ground invasion of Russia by a foreign power since World War II – in the hope that it could divert Russian troops from eastern Ukraine and improve its hand ahead of potential ceasefire negotiations.
Although the invasion may have slowed Russia’s offensive in Ukraine, Kyiv has since lost about half of the territory it once occupied in Kursk, after Moscow called in foreign reinforcements and deployed some 12,000 North Korean troops to the region.
This week, military bloggers from both countries have warned that Ukraine’s hold on the territory is more tenuous than at any point since it launched the incursion, with Moscow’s forces entering Ukraine’s Sumy region and threatening to cut off Kyiv’s troops in Kursk.
“The situation in the Kursk sector is very difficult – Russian troops have entered Sumy region,” Andriy Tsaplienko, a prominent Ukrainian military blogger, wrote on Telegram on Friday.
Tsaplienko warned that “Russian troops are rushing towards the road to Sudzha,” a major town in Kursk, in order to “cut off the Ukrainian bridgehead.” He added that Russia is “also trying to reach Zhuravka,” a village in Ukraine’s Sumy region just a few hundred meters from the Russia-Ukraine border.
In a major report last month, the Institute for the Study of War, a US-based conflict monitor, estimated that Ukraine has at most 30,000 troops stationed in the region, while Russia has gathered around 78,000 troops, including the North Koreans.
One Russian military blogger suggested that Moscow’s gains could be tied to the United States’ decision this week to pause intelligence sharing with Ukraine’s military.
“The breakthrough in Kursk regions… occurred exactly two days after the Americans stopped issuing target designations for cruise missiles and missiles of the ‘HIMARS’ system on the territory of Kursk region,” Yuriy Podolyka wrote on Telegram.
In the face of Russia’s gains, some Ukrainian bloggers have suggested that the Kursk incursion may have exhausted its strategic value.
“I didn’t think I would ever say this. But maybe it’s time to ‘close the shop’ from the Kursk direction. It’s hard for our guys there,” said Serhii Flesh. “As a diversion of enemy resources, I think this operation has long since justified itself. As a political bargaining card, it is now questionable.”