Russia rebuffs Donald Trump's 'fighting children' comment, says Ukraine war an 'existential issue'

The Kremlin on Friday said that the Ukraine war was "existential" for Russia, after it launched a wave of drone and missile strikes in retaliation that killed at least three in Kyiv, the capital city of Ukraine.

Kyiv announced that Russia had fired 45 missiles and 407 drones in the barrage, after Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed an attack in response to a Ukrainian attack on several Russian airbases.

Zelensky asks allies to increase pressure on Moscow

President Volodymyr Zelensky responded to the threat by urging allies to "decisively" ramp up pressure on Russia to pause the war, which has left tens of thousands dead over more than three years of fighting.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told AFP, “For us it is an existential issue, an issue on our national interest, safety, on our future and the future of our children, of our country.” He said it in response to US President Donald Trump's comparison of Moscow and Kyiv to fighting children.

‘We need to act decisively’

Zelensky said around three people had been killed in the capital, and that Russia had targeted a total of nine regions in Ukraine, including Lviv and Volyn in the west, which border EU and NATO member Poland.

"If someone does not put pressure and gives the war more time to take lives, they are complicit and responsible. We need to act decisively," Zelensky wrote on his social media.

Russia controls one-fifth of Ukraine's territory

According to AFP, deadly attacks have escalated in recent weeks even as the two sides hold peace talks, with an aim to end the conflict triggered by Russia's February 2022 invasion.

Cities and villages have been destroyed across eastern Ukraine and millions of residents were forced to flee their homes, with Russia's forces controlling around one-fifth of Ukraine's territory.

Russian aerial assaults have become worse in recent weeks as concerns build over Ukraine's low air defence capacity, said AFP.

The defence ministry in Moscow said its forces had launched the "massive" missile and drone strike in "response" to recent attacks by Kyiv on its territory.

AFP reported that Putin earlier this week told Trump that Moscow would retaliate over the Ukrainian attack on Sunday in which drones damaged nuclear-capable military planes at Russian air bases, including thousands of kilometres behind the front lines in Siberia.

The brazen operation which took 18 months of planning saw Kyiv smuggle more than 100 small drones into Russia, place them near Russian air bases and release them in a coordinated attack.

Failed ceasefire attempts

Despite several recent rounds of meetings aimed towards bringing peace between Ukrainian and Russian delegations, Putin has repeatedly rejected a ceasefire, and has issued a host of sweeping demands on Ukraine if it wants to halt the fighting, as reported by AFP.

The demands include completely pulling troops out of four regions claimed by Russia, but which its army does not fully control, an end to Western military support, and a ban on Ukraine joining NATO.

The overnight Russian attack left multiple fires burning in various districts of the capital, causing destruction.

Three first responders from the state emergency service were killed while dealing with an earlier strike, Interior Minister Igor Klymenko told AFP.

"They were working under fire to help people," he said, adding nine more were wounded and that “doctors are fighting for their lives”.