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Deadly Russian Attacks on Ukraine Follow Putin’s Threat of Retaliation over Drone Strikes

HeadlineJun 05, 2025

In Ukraine, Russian drone strikes killed five people and wounded six others in the northern city of Pryluky. The dead included a 1-year-old child found under the rubble. Elsewhere, Russian bombs struck the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, heavily damaging a government administrative building and injuring two people. And at least 18 people were injured when Russian drones struck apartment buildings in Kharkiv overnight, with two children among those injured.

The attacks came after President Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin promised to retaliate for Ukraine’s drone strikes on military airfields, which reportedly struck more than 40 Russian aircraft. Putin’s threat came during a 75-minute phone call between the two leaders, their second call in recent weeks. Trump wrote afterward, “It was a good conversation, but not a conversation that will lead to immediate Peace.”

On Tuesday, Ukraine announced saboteurs had successfully set off explosives planted underwater at the foundations of a key bridge connecting Russia and the occupied Crimean Peninsula. The explosion briefly halted traffic. It was Ukraine’s third attack on the bridge since Russia’s invasion in 2022. 

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