Russia unleashed a barrage of 400 Shahed and decoy drones, along with a ballistic missile, targeting four Ukrainian cities—Kharkiv, Kryvyi Rih, Vinnytsia, and Odesa—overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday, injuring at least 15 people and damaging energy infrastructure, Ukrainian officials reported. The intensified aerial campaign comes as U.S. President Donald Trump’s September 2 deadline for a Kremlin peace deal looms, backed by threats of severe sanctions.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the attacks, stating, “Russia does not change its strategy. To counter this terror, we need more air defense, more interceptors, and more resolve.” The strikes, part of Russia’s escalating assaults on civilian areas, targeted critical infrastructure, with Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, and Kryvyi Rih, Zelenskyy’s hometown, among the hardest hit.

On Monday, Trump announced increased U.S. weapons shipments to Ukraine, including critical Patriot air defense systems, marking his strongest stance against Russian President Vladimir Putin since returning to office. The U.S. will sell weapons to NATO allies for transfer to Ukraine, with countries like Germany and Finland contributing. However, European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas expressed hope that the U.S. would share the financial burden, stating, “If we pay for these weapons, it’s our support.”

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The Institute for the Study of War warned that Putin’s strategy relies on sustained battlefield gains to outlast Western support, viewing the 50-day deadline as an opportunity to seize more territory. Critics, including U.S. lawmakers and European officials, fear the deadline could embolden Russia’s aggression, as previous U.S. ultimatums have failed to halt the invasion. The war, now in its fourth year, has claimed over 12,000 civilian lives and tens of thousands of soldiers along the 1,000-km front line, according to the United Nations.

With no date set for a third round of Russia-Ukraine peace talks—previous rounds yielding only prisoner swaps—tensions remain high as the deadline approaches.

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