Ukraine war briefing: Ukraine’s drones hit Russian oil depot; Trump Hovers New Russia Sanctions | Ukraine

People in Kiev expressed a mixture of hope and skepticism on Tuesday that Donald Trump can end the war in Ukraine, writes Luke Harding. “I think an agreement is unrealistic. Trump is blah blah blah,” said Valeriia, a 23-year-old store clerk. “He promised to end the conflict in 24 hours. It won’t happen. My friends are split 50-50 between those who think he can do something and those who don’t.” Mykola, a retired physicist who used to live in the US, said: “I watched the inauguration on TV. Trump impressed me. We have to stop the war. I really think he can do something. He has made a ceasefire in Israel and Gaza.”

More than 200 Ukrainian civilians incl elderly people, people with disabilities and their carers remain in Chasiv Yar’s forward stronghold under heavy Russian assault, a military spokesman said Tuesday. Dmytro Zaporozhets, spokesman for the “Lugansk” group of forces, said that Russian attacks meant that it was no longer possible for the Ukrainian military administration to organize shelters or distribute food to the remaining residents. Ukraine still controls a former brick factory in Chasiv Yar after a recent attempted Russian attack failed, the spokesman said, but Moscow’s troops “moved in the direction of the factory” using “small attack groups of three to eight people”, Zaporozhets said. .

The Russian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that its forces had captured the settlement of Volkove in the eastern Donetsk regiona village that had an estimated pre-war population of about two dozen people. Further north, in the town of Kupiansk, a Russian drone attack injured three Ukrainian policemen and two elderly residents, police said. The Russian army is about 2 km outside the town, according to officials and loggers. The head of the national railway service, meanwhile, said Russian forces attacked railway infrastructure in the southern part of eastern Donetsk region, injuring three employees.