Russia Launches New Attacks on Ukraine 07/16 06:22

   

   KYIV, Ukraine (AP) -- Russian weapons pounded four Ukrainian cities 
overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday, injuring at least 15 people in an attack 
that mostly targeted energy infrastructure, officials said.

   The latest bombardment in Russia's escalating aerial campaign against 
civilian areas came ahead of a Sept. 2 deadline set by U.S. President Donald 
Trump for the Kremlin to reach a peace deal in the three-year war, under the 
threat of possible severe Washington sanctions if it doesn't.

   No date has yet been publicly set for a possible third round of direct peace 
talks between delegations from Russia and Ukraine. Two previous rounds 
delivered no progress apart from prisoner swaps.

   Russia launched 400 Shahed and decoy drones, as well as one ballistic 
missile, during the night, the Ukrainian air force said. The strikes targeted 
northeastern Kharkiv, which is Ukraine's second-largest city, President 
Volodymyr Zelenskyy's hometown of Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine, Vinnytsia in 
the west and Odesa in the south.

   "Russia does not change its strategy," Zelenskyy said. "To effectively 
counter this terror, we need a systemic strengthening of defense: more air 
defense, more interceptors, and more resolve so that Russia feels our response."

   Trump on Monday pledged to deliver more weapons to Ukraine, including vital 
Patriot air defense systems, and threatened to slap additional sanctions on 
Russia. It was Trump's toughest stance toward Russian President Vladimir Putin 
since he returned to the White House nearly six months ago.

   But some U.S. lawmakers and European government officials expressed 
misgivings that the 50-day deadline handed Putin the opportunity to capture 
more Ukrainian territory before any settlement to end the fighting.

   Other U.S. ultimatums to Putin in recent months have failed to persuade the 
Russian leader to stop his invasion of neighboring Ukraine. Tens of thousands 
of soldiers have been killed in the war, many of them along the more than 
1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, and Russian barrages of cities have 
killed more than 12,000 Ukrainian civilians, the United Nations says.

   The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington think tank, said Tuesday 
that "Putin holds a theory of victory that posits that Russia can achieve its 
war aims by continuing to make creeping gains on the battlefield indefinitely 
and outlasting Western support for Ukraine and Ukraine's ability to defend 
itself."

   Trump said the U.S. is providing additional weapons for Ukraine but European 
countries are paying for them. While Ukraine and European officials were 
relieved at the U.S. commitment after months of hesitation, some hoped 
Washington might shoulder some of the cost.

   "We welcome President Trump's announcement to send more weapons to Ukraine, 
although we would like to see the U.S share the burden," European Union foreign 
policy chief Kaja Kallas said Tuesday. "If we pay for these weapons, it's our 
support."