
Donald Trump has described Vladimir Putin as “crazy” following Russia’s largest aerial assault on Ukraine since the war began.
The US president posted on Truth Social: “Something has happened to him. He has gone absolutely crazy. He is needlessly killing a lot of people.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov characterized this as “a very important moment which is connected to an emotional overload of everyone involved” but maintained Putin was making decisions “necessary for the security” of Russia.
Russia launched 355 drones and nine cruise missiles against Ukraine between Sunday evening and Monday morning, according to Kyiv’s air force. Ukrainian officials confirmed this was the largest drone attack since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said “only a sense of total impunity” could enable Russia to “carry out such strikes and continue increasing their scale.”
Kyiv previously criticized Washington’s “silence” over recent Russian attacks, claiming it encourages Putin and calling for “strong pressure,” including tougher sanctions, on Moscow.
Warning sirens sounded across multiple Ukrainian regions early Monday as drones and missiles approached. Regional authorities reported several injuries across the country.
Peskov justified the massive aerial assaults as a response to Ukrainian attacks on Russia’s “social infrastructure.” The Russian defence ministry reported destroying 20 Ukrainian drones over several Russian regions Monday morning.
At least 12 people were killed and dozens injured in Ukraine overnight Sunday after Russia fired 367 drones and missiles in what officials called the largest aerial attack since the war’s start.
Speaking to reporters in New Jersey late Sunday, Trump said of Putin: “I’ve known him a long time, always gotten along with him, but he’s sending rockets into cities and killing people, and I don’t like it at all.”
When asked about potentially increasing US sanctions on Russia, Trump replied: “Absolutely.” The US president has repeatedly made such threats but has not yet implemented new restrictions against Moscow.
Trump later posted his “crazy” comment, adding: “I’ve always said that he wants all of Ukraine, not just a piece of it, and maybe that’s proving to be right, but if he does, it will lead to the downfall of Russia!”
However, Trump also criticized Zelensky, saying the Ukrainian leader “is doing his country no favours by talking the way he does.”
“Everything out of his mouth causes problems, I don’t like it, and it better stop,” Trump wrote about Zelensky.
While Kyiv’s European allies prepare additional sanctions against Russia, the US has indicated it will either continue brokering peace talks or “walk away” if progress stalls.
Peskov expressed on Monday that Russia was “truly grateful” to Americans and “personally to President Trump” for their assistance in organizing the negotiation process.
Last week, Trump and Putin held a two-hour phone call discussing a US-proposed ceasefire deal. Trump described the call as going “very well,” stating that Russia and Ukraine would “immediately start” negotiations toward a ceasefire and “an end to the war.”
Ukraine has publicly agreed to a 30-day ceasefire. Putin has only committed to working with Ukraine on crafting a “memorandum” on “possible future peace” – described by Kyiv and European allies as delaying tactics.
The first direct Ukrainian-Russian talks since 2022 occurred on May 16 in Istanbul, Turkey. Apart from a major prisoner exchange last week, little progress was made toward pausing the fighting.
Russia currently controls approximately 20% of Ukrainian territory, including Crimea, the southern peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014.
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