Vladimir Putin violates Trump’s temporary winter truce
Russian President Vladimir Putin broke a deal with President Trump to temporarily pause fighting in Ukraine, killing at least five people and injuring more than a dozen in overnight strikes across the country.
Despite Trump’s personal plea to suspend hostilities for one week, Moscow continued its offensive, hitting regions already devastated by war and struggling with severe winter conditions that have left millions at risk of power outages.
“I personally asked President Putin not to fire on Kyiv and the cities and towns for a week,” Trump said during a cabinet meeting Thursday. “It’s extraordinary cold — record-setting cold over there.” Trump said Putin had agreed to his request and described Moscow’s initial response as “very nice.”
However, Russian forces launched 85 drones against Ukraine into Saturday, including 55 Shahed-type drones, according to Ukraine’s Air Force. While Kyiv was spared, the frontline region of Donetsk suffered heavy attacks. Two people were killed and three others injured as strikes damaged homes, vehicles, and heating infrastructure, regional Gov. Vadym Filashkin reported. Around 200 residents, including 35 children, had to be evacuated.
In southern Kherson, two more people were killed and 10 injured, including a 14-year-old boy, regional Gov. Oleksandr Prokudin said. Fourteen high-rise buildings and five homes were damaged. Moscow attempted to frame the agreement as only covering Kyiv, creating confusion about whether the deal applied to the wider country.
“President Trump did indeed make a personal request to President Putin to refrain from striking Kyiv for a week until Feb. 1 in order to create favorable conditions for negotiations,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday. He confirmed that Putin had received Trump’s request.
Ukraine is also facing widespread blackouts after a nuclear grid overload, with temperatures plunging to -13°C. In the Sumy region, a 27-year-old woman was killed and a 63-year-old woman injured during drone raids that lasted more than 14 hours. Over 100 residents near the border have been evacuated, with authorities warning that returning even briefly for belongings can be fatal.
“Due to constant enemy shelling, life in these territories is virtually impossible. Evacuation today is a real opportunity to protect yourself and your loved ones,” the Sumy regional military administration said. “Russian troops are intensively using drones near the border and deliberately hitting civilians.”
Meanwhile, a high-level U.S. delegation expressed cautious optimism about peace efforts after meeting Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev in Miami. “Dmitriev held productive and constructive meetings as part of the U.S. mediation effort toward advancing a peaceful resolution of the Ukrainian conflict,” said special envoy Steve Witkoff. The talks were attended by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and Treasury Secretary Steve Bessent.
Trilateral peace talks between Ukraine, Russia, and the U.S. were scheduled for Sunday in Abu Dhabi, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky indicated that plans may have changed.
“We are in constant communication with the American side and are expecting specific details from them regarding further meetings,” Zelensky said in his nightly video address Saturday. “We are counting on meetings next week and are preparing for them.”
The three sides last met in Abu Dhabi a week ago.
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