Anna Hartz
Russia Launches 149 Drones After Trump and Zelensky’s Vatican Talks
The war in Ukraine keeps dragging on with no clear end in sight.
Every day brings more violence, more talks of peace, and new attempts to stop the fighting.
This weekend was no different. Just hours after a high-profile meeting between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky at the Vatican, Ukraine found itself under heavy attack again.
Ukraine announced it was hit by 149 Russian drones overnight, from Saturday into early Sunday morning, according to ABC News.
The Ukrainian Air Force said on Telegram that 57 drones were shot down. Another 67 drones lost contact and disappeared.
Damage was reported across six regions. The hardest hit were Zhytomyr, Dnipropetrovsk, Odessa, Donetsk, Sumy, and Cherkasy.
This latest assault comes after a brutal week. Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia had launched 48 missiles and over 440 drones just in the last seven days.
The Russian Defense Ministry responded by claiming it had shot down eight Ukrainian drones during the same night.
The timing of the attack raised eyebrows. It happened soon after Trump and Zelensky spoke at the funeral of Pope Francis.
Both sides described the meeting as positive. White House communications director Steven Cheung said the two leaders had a “very productive discussion.”
Zelensky also posted on X, calling it a “good meeting.”
He said they spoke face-to-face about saving lives, securing a complete and unconditional ceasefire, and building a lasting peace.
He added that the meeting could become “historic” if it leads to real results.
After meeting with Zelensky, Trump took aim at Vladimir Putin. He criticized Russia for firing missiles into Ukrainian cities.
Trump said there was “no reason” for Putin to bomb civilian areas.
He suggested Putin might not want the war to end and called for tougher sanctions, including new banking restrictions.
The meeting at the Vatican followed another round of diplomacy. Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff had met Putin in Moscow just days earlier.
Trump posted online that the talks had gone well.
He claimed that most major issues had been agreed upon and urged both sides to meet at a higher level to finalize a deal. “Stop the bloodshed, NOW,” Trump wrote.