A major Russian attack kills at least 12 in Kyiv, hits other cities. Trump’s peace proposal marks a change in the strategy for ending the war in Ukraine, ISW says. Zelenskyi points to a U.S. declaration made under Trump’s first administration not accepting Russia’s rule over Crimea.
Major Russian attack kills 12 in Kyiv, hits other cities
At least 12 people were killed and more than 90 injured in Kyiv after Russia carried out a major combined drone and missile attack on Ukraine early on Thursday. Kyiv was hit the hardest, with Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Pavlohrad and other cities also targeted.
Kyiv’s five districts were damaged in the attack, with the Svyatoshynskyi district hit most severely. A two-story apartment building there was destroyed and the surrounding houses were damaged. A search and rescue operation was underway to find people caught under rubble. One man was pulled alive from the debris.
Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia had launched 70 missiles and 145 drones toward Ukraine, including 11 Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles from Russian regions of Bryansk, Voronezh and Kursk, 37 Kh-101 cruise missiles from Tu-95MS strategic bombers in the Saratov region, six Iskander-K cruise missiles from occupied Donetsk region, 12 Kalibr cruise missiles from the Black Sea, four Kh-59/Kh-69 air-launched missiles from the Belgorod region, and 145 Shahed attack drones and decoy drones from the area of Russia’s Bryansk, Millerovo, Kursk and Primorsko-Akhtarsk, and from Cape Chauda in occupied Crimea. Ukraine’s air defenses shot down 48 missiles, including seven ballistic ones, and 64 drones. Sixty-eight decoy drones disappeared off radar after likely being disabled by electronic warfare systems, without causing any harm.
Ukraine used U.S.-made F-16s and French Mirage jets to repel the attack. The pilots took down dozens of air targets, the Air Force added.
On Thursday, Zelenskyi said he was cutting short a trip to South Africa because of the attack. “It has been 44 days since Ukraine agreed to a full ceasefire and a halt to strikes. This was a proposal from the United States. And it has been 44 days of Russia continuing to kill our people and evading tough pressure and accountability for its actions. It is extremely important that everyone around the world sees and understands what is really happening. Nearly 70 missiles, including ballistic ones, and about 150 attack drones,” he said on X in reaction to Russia’s strikes.
He added that he had instructed the Defense Minister, Rustem Umerov, to immediately contact Ukraine’s international partners regarding the country’s requests to strengthen air defenses.
“Yesterday’s Russian maximalist demands for Ukraine to withdraw from its regions, combined with these brutal strikes, show that Russia, not Ukraine, is the obstacle to peace. Moscow, not Kyiv, is where pressure should be applied,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister, Andriy Sybiha said on X.
Trump’s peace proposal marks change in strategy for ending war in Ukraine, ISW says
The United States reportedly recently presented Ukraine with a seven-point proposal to end the war in Ukraine in which the United States would recognize Crimea as part of Russia and allow Russian forces to continue to occupy significant parts of southern and eastern Ukraine. Available reporting about the contents of the US proposal suggests that it marks a sudden and substantial change in the Trump administration’s strategy for ending the war in Ukraine, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said in a recent report. The paragraphs below are quoted from the text.
The reported US proposal suggests that the Trump administration is seeking to simultaneously achieve a full ceasefire in Ukraine, conclude a peace settlement to end the war, and develop US-Russian economic relations – a sharp contrast to the timeline of events that the administration has called for in recent weeks.
The White House stated on March 25 that Trump’s “imperative that the killing on both sides of the [war] must stop” is a “necessary step toward achieving an enduring peace settlement” — demonstrating how the Trump administration viewed a full ceasefire as the first step toward securing a peace settlement. Ukraine agreed to the March 18 US-proposed full ceasefire along the frontline and agreed to the US-supported extension of the unilateral Russian Easter truce on April 21 — in sharp contrast to Russia, which refused to accept or extend these US-proposed and US-supported ceasefires.
The White House also stated on April 15 that the United States “needs to see a ceasefire first” before developing US-Russian economic partnerships, and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio reportedly stated in February 2025 that US sanctions on Russia would remain in place until Russia and Ukraine had reached a peace deal to end the war — in contrast to the reported US proposal that would simultaneously put a ceasefire in place in Ukraine, lift US sanctions against Russia, and develop US-Russian economic cooperation.
Significant details about the territorial swaps in the US proposal are unclear from the available reporting. Russian forces currently occupy a small part of Mykolaiv Oblast — the Kinburn Spit — and recently began conducting offensive operations into northern Sumy Oblast — two oblasts which the available reporting about the US proposal does not address. It is unclear whether Ukraine would gain access only to the mouth of the Dnipro River or a wider littoral area along the river‘s left bank given differences between reporting from Axios and The Telegraph.
Details about the extent of the territory near the ZNPP [Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant] on the east (left) bank of the Dnipro River that would be considered Ukrainian are also unspecified, but Russian forces would have to withdraw from some territory in the area according to the US plan as Russian forces currently occupy significant portions of Zaporizhia Oblast behind the Dnipro River’s east bank.
The Dnipro River would nevertheless present itself as a significant barrier between the Ukrainian-controlled and US-operated ZNPP from the rest of the territory under Ukraine’s control under the reported US plan, assuming Russian forces do not withdraw from territory around the Kakhovka Reservoir to permit a land bridge from Ukrainian-controlled Zaporizhia Oblast to the ZNPP.
The location of such a strategically important facility close to the frozen frontline would greatly complicate Ukraine’s ability to defend the ZNPP due to the lack of defensive depth. ISW previously conduced a terrain study and assessed that freezing the Russian war in Ukraine on anything like the current lines — particularly those in Zaporizhia and Kherson oblasts — enormously advantages Russia and increases the risks and costs to Ukraine and the West of deterring, let alone defeating, a future Russian war against Ukraine.
Zelenskyi points to Trump’s first administration’s declaration not accepting Russia’s rule over Crimea
In an indirect response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s criticism of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi being unwilling to recognize Russian control of Crimea, Zelenskyi shared on X on Wednesday a screenshot of former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s 2018 Crimea Declaration which rejected Russia’s occupation of the peninsula. Pompeo served as Secretary of State during Trump’s first administration.
Zelenskyi said: “Emotions have run high today. But it is good that 5 countries met to bring peace closer. Ukraine, the USA, the UK, France and Germany. The sides expressed their views and respectfully received each other’s positions. It’s important that each side was not just a participant but contributed meaningfully. The American side shared its vision. Ukraine and other Europeans presented their inputs. And we hope that it is exactly such joint work that will lead to lasting peace. We are grateful to partners. Ukraine will always act in accordance with its Constitution and we are absolutely sure that our partners in particular the USA will act in line with its strong decisions.”
The U.S.’s Crimea Declaration released on July 25, 2018 rejected Russia’s attempted annexation of the peninsula.
“Russia, through its 2014 invasion of Ukraine and its attempted annexation of Crimea, sought to undermine a bedrock international principle shared by democratic states: that no country can change the borders of another by force.
“The states of the world, including Russia, agreed to this principle in the United Nations Charter, pledging to refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state. This fundamental principle – which was reaffirmed in the Helsinki Final Act – constitutes one of the foundations upon which our shared security and safety rests,” the declaration reads.
The document also draws parallels between the U.S. Crimea policy and non-acceptance of Soviet rule over the Baltic states. Under the Welles Declaration, the United States pointedly refused to recognize the illegal incorporation of the Baltic states into the Soviet Union. This non-recognition policy remained the official U.S. position until when the Baltic states each individually declared their independence from the Soviet Union in the 90s.
“As we did in the Welles Declaration in 1940, the United States reaffirms as policy its refusal to recognize the Kremlin’s claims of sovereignty over territory seized by force in contravention of international law,” the Crimea Declaration says.
“In concert with allies, partners, and the international community, the United States rejects Russia’s attempted annexation of Crimea and pledges to maintain this policy until Ukraine’s territorial integrity is restored,” the document reads.
The U.S. then called on Russia to end its occupation of the peninsula, citing isolation as an international response.
“The United States calls on Russia to respect the principles to which it has long claimed to adhere and to end its occupation of Crimea. (…) Through its actions, Russia has acted in a manner unworthy of a great nation and has chosen to isolate itself from the international community,” it said.