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KYIV, UKRAINE: A wave of deadly Russian airstrikes on a prison and a hospital in southeastern Ukraine on Tuesday left at least 19 people dead, Ukrainian officials said, as the conflict intensifies and U.S. President Donald Trump issued a new, shorter deadline for Russia to show progress toward a peaceful resolution.
The attacks, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy condemned as "deliberate," resulted in a bloody scene and sparked renewed international outrage.
Key Developments:
- Deadly Attacks: Russian strikes kill 19 people, including 16 at a prison in the Zaporizhzhia region and a pregnant woman and two others at a hospital in the Dnipropetrovsk region.
- Zelenskiy's Accusation: President Zelenskiy asserts that Russia "knew it was a civilian facility" and that the attacks were a deliberate act of "arrogance."
- Trump's Ultimatum: U.S. President Donald Trump, citing frustration with the lack of progress, sets a new deadline of "10 or 12 days" for Russia to show a commitment to ending the war, threatening punitive measures.
- Kremlin's Response: Russia's Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says they have "taken note" of Trump's statement but confirms that the "special military operation continues."
The deadliest of the day’s strikes occurred in the frontline Zaporizhzhia region, where a Russian bombing of a prison killed 16 inmates and injured 43, according to Ukrainian officials. Eyewitness accounts from the scene paint a grim picture of the aftermath. Injured prisoners, many bandaged and bloody, were seen wading through rubble and broken glass as guards called out a roll call.
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"People were screaming, moaning," said Yaroslav Samarskiy, a 54-year-old prisoner who survived the attack. "Some dead, some alive, some without legs – half of them burned."
The Ukrainian Justice Ministry reported that four high-explosive bombs hit the facility, destroying the prison's dining hall and damaging other parts of the complex.
Separately, a missile strike on a hospital in the neighbouring Dnipropetrovsk region claimed the lives of a 23-year-old pregnant woman and two other people. President Zelenskiy, in his nightly video address, called the attacks "a deliberate strike, targeted, not accidental," and argued that such actions prove the necessity of "very harsh, truly painful, and therefore just and effective sanctions pressure."
The attacks came as Russia continues to intensify its aerial bombardment of Ukrainian towns and cities behind the front lines, even as its ground forces make gradual advances on the battlefield, which has been mired in a fourth year of conflict.
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Internationally, the strikes coincided with a new and shorter deadline from U.S. President Donald Trump, who is growing increasingly frustrated with Russia's lack of progress toward ending the war.
Speaking in Scotland, Trump said he was shortening an earlier 50-day deadline to "10 or 12 days" and threatened to impose "tariffs and other measures" on Moscow if it did not comply.
"I'm disappointed in President Putin," Trump said, adding that he sees "no progress being made."
The Kremlin, for its part, acknowledged Trump's ultimatum but offered no indication of a policy change. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that the "special military operation continues," a clear sign that Moscow intends to press on with its invasion.
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The latest wave of strikes and the diplomatic standoff highlight the complex and dangerous nature of the ongoing conflict, with a rising civilian death toll and no end in sight.