Despite reports that a summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is being arranged, Russia launched an attack on Ukraine.
According to local media on August 19 (local time), Russian forces carried out a large-scale assault on the city of Kremenchuk in central Poltava Oblast the previous day, immediately following a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump, President Zelensky, and European leaders.
Vitalii Maletskyi, the mayor of Kremenchuk, said that dozens of explosions rocked the city, adding, "Once again, the world has witnessed that Putin does not want peace."
Poltava Governor Volodymyr Kogut stated on Telegram that, fortunately, there were no casualties, but power supply was cut off to 1,500 households and 119 commercial facilities. Ukraine's Ministry of Energy explained that dozens of drones attacked gas transport facilities in the Poltava region, causing a massive fire.
Earlier in the morning, Vyacheslav Chaus, the governor of Chernihiv in the north, reported that a Russian drone attack had also disrupted power supply in parts of the region. The southern Odesa region was also reportedly hit by a Russian ballistic missile attack.
President Trump announced that after holding a meeting at the White House with President Zelensky and European leaders the previous day, he began coordinating a summit between President Putin and President Zelensky. He also mentioned that after the bilateral summit between the two leaders, a trilateral summit including himself would follow.
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