Russia stepped up its savage bombing of Ukraine despite later confirming that Vladimir Putin is set to meet with Donald Trump in the coming days. 

Recent video footage reveals a new strike by Kremlin’s forces targeting a critical bridge in Kherson, which has withstood six major aerial assaults, indicating that Putin might disregard Trump’s calls to end the war.

This assault on the significant crossing in the Korabelny district occurs amid Russian war channels claiming that sabotage units aim to seize this crucial city near the frontline, a statement Ukraine strongly refutes.

Separate footage shows Shahed-2 drones striking the Dnipropetrovsk region, where four were injured, including a woman, 69.

Additionally, Putin’s troops were responsible for the death of at least three Ukrainians in Nikopol, including 23-year-old rescuer Danylo Khizhnyak, who hurried to assist after the initial strike. This deliberate attack on first responders took place despite discussions with Trump during envoy Steve Witkoff’s visit to Moscow.

Separately, the Russians killed a 62-year-old civilian woman in Huliaipole, near the frontline in the Zaporizhzhia region.

Moscow has also released footage from the recent joint military exercises with China, known as Maritime Interaction-2025, where the two authoritarian countries engaged in artillery drills against a ‘simulated enemy’ to showcase their power to the West.

It was confirmed on Thursday that US President Donald Trump will be meeting with Putin soon, as announced by Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov. The location of the summit, however, has not yet been disclosed.

Russia has intensified its brutal bombing of Ukraine, even as there is anticipation that Vladimir Putin is approaching a meeting with Donald Trump, aiming to negotiate an end to the war.

In recent days, a barrage of attacks have devastated Ukrainian cities, in a clear sign Putin is looking to ignore Trump’s deadline

The recent attacks have left critics wondering whether the Russian leader wants to end the war

Earlier, when asked if Putin may be fooling him, the US president replied: ‘Can’t answer the question yet. I’ll tell you in a matter of weeks, maybe less. But we made a lot of progress.’

Meanwhile, he vowed more sanctions against countries trading oil with Russia to fund Putin’s war machine.

‘We did it with India, we’re doing it probably with a couple of others. One of them could be China,’ said Trump. 

But he cautioned that the progress made was not a ‘breakthrough’. His secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said many obstacles still needed to be overcome.

Ukraine sought to increase pressure on Putin with precision strikes on key military and strategic targets in overnight action.

Volodymyr Zelensky’s forces reportedly hit a Russian military unit in Slavyansk-na-Kubani in Krasnodar region.

‘Eyewitnesses observe a fire in the area of the military unit,’ said a report. 

Last week, parts of Kyiv was hit by Russian missiles in what was described as one of the most devastating strikes since the war began 

Trump has said there could soon be a meeting between him and Russia’s Putin 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday called for a face-to-face meeting with Vladimir Putin to end the war and said he has spoken to Trump

Reports said the strike was against military unit 61661. A spectacular and ‘massive’ inferno was burning at Afipsky Refinery in the same region after 6am explosions which ‘rocked the facility, with flames lighting up the sky’.

It is one of the largest refineries in southern Russia. Ukraine also targeted air defence units near Kerch in occupied Crimea, according to reports.

And they hit the Surovikino railway station, triggering a fire in the Volgograd region, where a temporary airport closure was enforced. This was another in a series of recent strikes aimed at disrupting Putin’s rail transport system, especially involving military cargoes.

Earlier, unmanned boats were reported to be attacking key port Novorossiysk, in Krasnodar region. Russia claimed to have ‘repelled’ the 4am attack, but there was no independent verification. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday called for a face-to-face meeting with Vladimir Putin to end the war, after Donald Trump’s special envoy held talks with the Russian leader in Moscow.

Although Trump hailed conversations between Steve Witkoff and Putin as ‘highly productive’, US officials still vowed to impose sanctions on Moscow’s trading partners.

Zelensky said later that he had spoken by phone with Trump and that European leaders had been on the call.

‘We in Ukraine have repeatedly said that finding real solutions can be truly effective at the level of leaders,’ Zelensky wrote on social media.

Firefighters work to put out a fire after strikes on an apartment building in Kerson on August 2

Ukrainians now say they are eager for the war to end, but do not believe a ceasefire will happen in the next 12 months 

‘It is necessary to determine the timing for such a format and the range of issues to be addressed,’ he added.

The Ukrainian leader said Thursday morning that he had planned to hold ‘several’ conversations throughout the course of the day, including with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, as well as French and Italian officials.

It comes as a new study published on Thursday showed that Ukrainians are eager for a peace deal to end the war. 

However, according to the Gallup poll, only about a quarter say they expect a ceasefire within the next 12 months. The new outlook is a sharp contrast to 2022, when people in the country said they wanted to keep fighting Russia.