Russian President Vladimir Putin has called Donald Trump‘s bluff as missiles rained down on Ukraine in overnight strikes even as the U.S.’s deadline day for a ceasefire arrives.
The Kremlin has shown no sign of halting its bombardments despite the U.S. President threatening to impose economic sanctions if Moscow fails to show progress towards ending the war in Ukraine by today, August 8.
Russia hit Ukrainian civilians including pensioners and children in overnight ‘terrorist strikes’ in Bucha – a city that saw mass executions, torture and sexual violence from Putin’s troops at the start of the conflict.
Two women aged 56 and 60 and a schoolgirl, 16, were hurt in the Russian strikes on ordinary houses in Bucha, while wide-ranging attacks also hit Hostomel and Irpin in Kyiv region, and Shostka in Sumy region where a sports complex and private houses were struck.
Trump’s deadline for a peace process expires today, August 8, with the U.S. President threatening to target both Putin’s economy, and to impose secondary sanctions on countries buying oil from Russia.
He said he was ‘disappointed’ Putin had not engaged with peace moves.
‘It’s gonna be up to him. We’re gonna see what he has to say. It’s gonna be up to him. Very disappointed,’ said Trump.
It comes after the U.S. President issued an executive order hitting India with an additional 25% tariff over its purchases of Russian oil, bringing its overall tariff rate to 50%.
An explosion of a drone lights up the sky over the city during a Russian drone strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine August 8, 2025
Russian President Vladimir Putin has called Donald Trump ‘s bluff as missiles rained down on Ukraine in overnight attacks
U.S. President Donalt Trump said he was ‘disappointed’ Putin had not engaged with peace moves
He also declared that Russia presented ‘an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States’, after his top envoy Steve Witkoff met with Kremlin officials.
The Russian President said on Thursday that he hoped to meet Trump as early as next week, after saying the desire for a US-Russia summit was ‘mutual’.
While Putin has made clear he will meet the U.S. leader, he has given no promises about laying down his arms.
A Kremlin aide yesterday indicated that Trump and Putin could get together ‘in the coming days’, with the Russian leader suggesting the United Arab Emirates is a possible site for the meeting.
Putin said Thursday that ‘conditions’ for a potential meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had not been met, hours after the Ukrainian leader repeated a call for direct talks.
‘I have nothing against it in general, it is possible, but certain conditions must be created for this. But unfortunately, we are still far from creating such conditions,’ Putin told reporters at the Kremlin.
Trump dismissed the idea that the U.S.-Russia summit will only happen if Putin meets Ukraine’s president – indicating that the meeting may go ahead without him.
‘They would like to meet with me. I’ll do whatever I can to stop the killings,’ said Trump.
Russia hit Ukrainian civilians including pensioners and children in overnight ‘terrorist strikes’ in Bucha
Following Russia’s overnight strikes, the Mayor of Bucha, in Kyiv region said seven private houses were hit along with a nursery school
Russian drones targeted Kharkiv in a series of new attacks on Ukraine as Donald Trump’s deadline day – August 8 – arrived for sanctions hitting the Putin regime
Zelensky has said Ukraine is ready for a ceasefire but Moscow has given ‘no clear public response’.
Russia is the world’s second-biggest producer of crude after the U.S., and India, China and Turkey are the three biggest importers of its oil.
On Wednesday, Trump warned that the 25% tariff on India was just the beginning.
‘You’re going to see a lot more. So this is a taste,’ he said in the Oval Office.
Following Russia’s overnight strikes, the Mayor of Bucha, in Kyiv region, Anatoliy Fedoruk, said seven private houses were hit along with a nursery school in a ‘terrorist’ strike from Putin’s forces.
‘We have destruction as a result of a Russian terrorist attack on our community and the surrounding area,’ he said.
‘A massive attack. The air defence forces worked well. All people are alive….
‘We have once again seen that Russia is insidiously attacking the civilian housing infrastructure of our settlements at night.
Zelensky has said Ukraine is ready for a ceasefire but Moscow has given ‘no clear public response’
Russian drones targeted Bucha, a city that saw mass executions, torture and sexual violence from Putin’s troops at the start of the conflict
‘We have destruction as a result of a Russian terrorist attack on our community and the surrounding area,’ the Mayor of Bucha said
‘Russia is a terrorist country. The whole world should know about this, understand it, so that no one would shake hands with Russia knowing about the murders and atrocities against Ukrainians.’
Residents survived because they cowered in makeshift bomb shelters, said the mayor.
Russian drones also targeted the Nikopol district in Dnipropetrovsk where three houses were damaged.
Meanwhile in Kharkiv, Russian drones hit a civilian enterprise in the Saltivskyi district of the city.
Two civilians were injured — a man, 66, and a woman 63, who suffered an acute stress reaction.
There were breakfast time warnings in Ukraine of further strikes, this time with ballistic missiles.
Ukraine hit territory around Russia’s Millerovo air base, with drones evidently hitting a fuel depot supplying military planes.
In a report published yesterday, sources told the Wall Street Journal that Putin and Trump have spoken on the phone more widely than previously known, and exchanged messages through intermediaries.
‘Their calls extend for hours sometimes due to lengthy Putin monologues and the need for translations,’ said the newspaper, citing current and former U.S. officials.
Trump ‘usually impatient and anxious to chime in, listens attentively’.
The conversations have been ‘typically friendly’ with Trump discussing his aim of a better relationship between Russia and the US fuelled by economic cooperation.
Putin ‘lists his grievances and core desires, mainly international recognition of Russia’s control over Crimea and the Donbas region, much of which it has seized from Ukraine’, said the report.
