Russian Military Strikes Ukrainian Civilians Despite Trump's Claim of Putin Ceasefire Agreement
In a stark contradiction to former President Donald Trump's public statements, Russian forces launched a massive assault on Ukrainian civilian targets on Friday, January 30, 2026. The attack included more than 100 long-range drones and a ballistic missile, resulting in civilian casualties in the southern city of Kherson.
Civilian Casualties Mount in Kherson Amid Ongoing Shelling
According to local media reports from Ukraine, a city bus driver was killed and five civilians were injured in Kherson during the latest Russian bombardment. The attack continues a pattern of targeting civilian infrastructure that has characterized Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed the ongoing assaults in a social media post, noting that drone attacks on ordinary residential buildings persist across multiple cities. He specifically mentioned damage to civilian production warehouses in the Kharkiv region, including facilities belonging to American tobacco company Philip Morris.
Trump's Weather-Related Ceasefire Claim Collapses
The Russian attacks came mere hours after Donald Trump boasted about his personal diplomacy with Vladimir Putin. On Thursday afternoon, Trump claimed he had secured Putin's agreement to halt attacks on Ukrainian cities for one week due to extreme cold weather conditions.
"I personally asked President Putin not to fire into Kyiv and the various towns for a week and he agreed to do that," Trump told reporters, describing the arrangement as "very nice" for Ukrainian civilians enduring sub-zero temperatures.
Conflicting Accounts of Diplomatic Agreements
Following Friday's attacks, neither Trump nor his administration offered explanations for why Putin appeared to be violating the purported agreement. Instead, Ukrainian and Russian officials presented different interpretations of what was actually agreed upon during recent three-way talks in Abu Dhabi.
President Zelenskyy stated the agreement concerned mutual restraint regarding energy infrastructure attacks, writing: "Ukraine is ready to mirror the restraint, and today we did not attack Russian energy."
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov offered yet another version, telling reporters that Putin had agreed specifically to avoid striking Kyiv until February 1, according to the Moscow Times.
Analysts Question Trump's Diplomatic Effectiveness
The Institute for the Study of War, an independent group monitoring Russia's military actions, documented the 111 drones and one ballistic missile launched into Ukraine on Friday. This data directly contradicts Trump's assertion that his intervention had secured a temporary ceasefire.
Brookings Institution analyst Robert Kagan, a veteran of the Reagan State Department, expressed skepticism about Trump's diplomatic claims. "Shocked," Kagan joked when asked about the situation, having previously suggested that Putin might be deliberately attempting to humiliate Trump through such contradictory actions.
White House Maintains Support for Trump's Narrative
Despite the evidence of ongoing Russian attacks, White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly defended Trump's version of events when questioned by reporters. "President Trump has done more than anyone to save lives and bring this brutal war to an end," she stated, repeating the administration's position that Trump's request had been honored by Putin.
The White House declined to address questions about why Russian attacks continued if Putin had indeed agreed to a temporary ceasefire at Trump's request.
Broader Context of Trump's Ukraine Policy
This incident occurs within the broader context of Trump's Ukraine policy since taking office. The former president halted U.S. military aid to Ukraine that had been flowing under the Biden administration, instead demanding that European allies purchase American weapons for potential transfer to Ukrainian forces.
Analysts have noted that Trump frequently echoes Putin's talking points about Russian-Ukrainian history following their meetings, and has occasionally created moral equivalencies between Russia's attacks on Ukrainian civilians and Ukraine's retaliatory strikes against Russian energy infrastructure.
The latest attacks in Kherson and elsewhere demonstrate the continuing brutality of Russia's invasion, now entering its fourth year, and raise serious questions about the effectiveness of Trump's personal diplomacy with the Russian leader.
