Ukraine-Russia war latest: Trump hails ‘very good’ call with Zelensky after Putin launches airstrike

Russia’s aerial attacks on Ukrainian electricity and gas systems are estimated to have more than £11 billion in three years:

Four people were injured in the today’s second attack on railway infrastructure in he Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine’s state railway said.

“Four railway workers were injured, two of them in serious condition,” the organisation said. “They are receiving medical assistance.

“The attack was previously carried out by a ballistic missile.

“Railway workers made every effort to ensure that the hostile attacks did not affect the movement of passenger trains.”

Donald Trump has hailed a “very good telephone call” with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, which lasted around one hour.

“Much of the discussion was based on the call made yesterday with President Putin in order to align both Russia and Ukraine in terms of their requests and needs,” Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“We are very much on track, and I will ask Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, to give an accurate description of the points discussed. That Statement will be put out shortly.”

Ukrainian boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk visited a destroyed energy plant in central Ukraine, shortly before Vladimir Putin agreed to immediately halt attacks on energy infrastructure in Ukraine.

Standing among the devastation of the central Ukrainian plant, the 38-year-old heavyweight saw first-hand the effects of Russia’s systematic and repeated attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in its attempt to weaken Kyiv’s war effort.

Usyk visited the site on Monday, just one day before Putin agreed to temporarily halt all attacks on energy infrastructure in a phone call with US president Donald Trump on Tuesday.

In their first talks since late February, presidents Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky will almost certainly be discussing the partial ceasefire agreed by Vladimir Putin yesterday.

The Russian autocrat agreed to halt all attacks on energy infrastructure for around a month during a phone call with Mr Trump on Tuesday.

But Ukrainian authorities accused Russia of striking energy facilities after the city of Slovyansk lost power overnight.

Moscow countered the claims, stating that it called off a drone attack on Ukrainian energy infrastructure and had shot down seven of its own drones. The Kremlin also accused Ukraine of targeting Russian energy targets overnight, including an alleged attack on an oil depot near the village of Kavkazskaya.

Mr Zelensky does not trust that Putin is an honest candidate for peace, and will likely make that clear to the US president.

Speaking on X yesterday about last night’s attacks, he said: “The fact that this night is no exception shows that the pressure on Russia must continue for the sake of peace.

“Today, Putin effectively rejected the proposal for a full ceasefire. It would be right for the world to respond by rejecting any attempts by Putin to prolong the war.”

Volodymyr Zelensky is currently speaking with US president Donald Trump for the first time in just under three weeks.

The last time the pair spoke produced one of the most infamous scenes in recent history, when Mr Trump and vice president JD Vance teamed up in a verbal attack of the Ukrainian president, who they accused of not showing enough gratitude to the US for its military support.

News anchors were left open-mouthed as Mr Zelensky was subsequently booted out of the Oval Office by his US counterpart, who told him not to return until he was “ready for peace”.

“You’re playing cards, you’re gambling with the lives of millions of people,” Mr Trump told Ukraine’s war leader. “You’re not in a good position right now,” Mr Zelensky was repeatedly told, in remarks which drew outrage from leaders around the world.

It kicked off when Mr Zelensky – who was officially at the White House to sign a crucial minerals deal with the US – repeatedly reiterated the need for US security guarantees in any future peace settlement, before Mr Vance accused him of not being grateful enough to the US.

President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are speaking by phone as Kyiv continues to weather attacks on energy infrastructure despite Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s claim to have ordered a halt to such attacks following a phone call with Trump one day earlier.

The White House said the call would take place Wednesday morning, and White House deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino confirmed on X (formerly Twitter) that the two leaders had been connected and were speaking as of 10:38 am ET.

White House correspondent Andrew Feinberg with the full report:

Volodymyr Zelensky has confirmed Wednesday’s prisoner exchange, describing it as “one of the largest” which has been held.

A total of 197 Ukrainians were released from Russia, including 175 detainees and 22 who were released “through measures beyond exchanges”.

“Thank you to our Ukrainian POW [prisoner of war] search and exchange team for this important work, for the results that give hope. And we are grateful to all our partners, especially the United Arab Emirates, for making today’s exchange possible,” the Ukrainian president wrote on Telegram.

“Ukraine remembers each and every one of our heroes, and we will definitely bring all of our people home.”

President Vladimir Putin wants Donald Trump to formally recognise the four Ukrainian regions occupied by Russian forces, a Russian outlet has reported.

Putin wants his US counterpart to recognise the eastern Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, which have been occupied since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022, Kommersant reported, citing sources who attended a business event with Putin on Tuesday.

Moscow does not fully control any of the four regions.

The Russian autocrat also wants the US to recognise Crimea, southern land seized and annexed by Russia in 2014.

In return for recognition “in the near future”, Putin would not attempt to lay claim to the southern port city of Odesa or any other part of Ukraine, the report added.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday Putin and Trump had not discussed the idea on their Tuesday call.