Russia bombarded Ukraine’s second-largest city with massive strikes in the early hours of Saturday, its mayor said, one night after Moscow carried out one of the war’s largest aerial assaults on Ukraine.

Russia claims Ukraine indefinitely postponed the release while Kyiv maintains it has been delayed until next week.

President Donald Trump says it might be better to let Ukraine and Russia “fight for a while” before pulling them apart and pursuing peace.

But halting progress, ever-more deadly drone attacks and unmoving negotiating positions seem to have taken their toll. On Thursday, Trump used a striking analogy to concede the warfare was nowhere near over, and that he did not, at that moment, feel it was best to intervene.

The large-scale attack comes days after Trump says Putin had "very strongly" promised response to Ukraine "Spider web" attack.

Trump told German Chancellor Friedrich Merz that Russia and Ukraine were fighting like children in a park and might not want to be pulled apart yet.

Military analysts predict that Russia will increase the tempo of its operations in a summer offensive to increase pressure on Ukraine, but note that Moscow could struggle to keep up the pace into 2026. Russia shows no intention of wrapping up the war any time soon.

A FTER WEEKS of nebulous ceasefire talks at the urging of a semi-engaged President Donald Trump, the war between Russia and Ukraine is intensifying again in savage style and with escalating stakes. In the last two weeks there have been record-breaking Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian cities and spectacular Ukrainian drone raids on Russia’s strategic bomber force,