Putin’s revenge spree? Deadly strike hits Zelensky’s hometown just hours after Trump's truce expires

Vladimir Putin has sent a brutal new message to Kyiv, unleashing a deadly strike on President Volodymyr Zelensky’s hometown just 24 hours after a fragile ceasefire expired. Russian drones hit a residential building in Kryvyi Rih on May 12, killing two civilians and injuring four others, including a 9‑month‑old baby rushed to hospital in critical condition. Zelensky denounced the assault as a “cynical and meaningless” attack on ordinary people, insisting that pressure on Moscow must not ease and calling for stronger Ukrainian air defenses. The bombing came the same day Putin showcased Russia’s “Sarmat” intercontinental ballistic missile – billed by the Kremlin as the world’s most powerful nuke underscoring how the war is sliding back from a shaky pause into open escalation. All this unfolded shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump claimed the Ukraine war was “very close” to an end, a statement now starkly at odds with the reality on the ground. In this video, we break down the Kryvyi Rih strike, Putin’s Sarmat show, and what it signals for the next phase of the Russia‑Ukraine war.