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Trump, in Scotland, gives more details about his falling out with Jeffrey Epstein

July 28, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump on Monday gave more details about why his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein went south, and told reporters he hasn’t been asked for a Ghislaine Maxwell pardon.

Trump continues to face questions on Epstein, and his administration’s handling of files related to the deceased financier and convicted sex offender accused of sex trafficking minors, even overseas during a working visit to Scotland.

In a bilateral meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at Trump’s golf property in Turnberry, Trump was pressed if a pardon for Maxwell was something he would consider and continued not to rule it out.

“Well, I’m allowed to give her a pardon,” Trump said. “But nobody’s approached me with it, nobody’s asked me about it. It’s in the news, that — that aspect of it. But right now, it would be inappropriate to talk about it.”

Maxwell, a longtime Epstein associate who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking, sat down for two meetings last week with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. ABC News reported that sources say it was Maxwell who initiated the talks, and that she was granted limited immunity.

Blanche has not revealed what the Justice Department learned from the some nine-hour interview, only saying he would share additional information at the “appropriate time.” Maxwell’s attorney has said she was asked about 100 different people during their conversations.

Trump was also asked on Monday about parts of his relationship with Epstein, particularly their falling out.

“But for years, I wouldn’t talk to Jeffrey Epstein,” Trump said. “I wouldn’t talk because he did something that was inappropriate. He hired help, and I said, ‘don’t ever do that again.’ He stole people that worked for me. I said, ‘don’t ever do that again.’ He did it again. And I threw him out of the place persona non-grata.”

“I threw him out and that was it. I’m glad I did, if you want to know the truth,” Trump continued.

Trump did not offer any specifics, but as ABC News has previously reported, Virginia Giuffre, an Epstein accuser who died by suicide in April, had accused Maxwell of recruiting her while she was working as a locker-room attendant at Mar-a-Lago in 2000 and bringing her to Epstein’s home for a massage.

Trump went on to say he never went to Epstein’s island, and instead listed other high-profile individuals he claimed went to the island, including former President Bill Clinton. Clinton has denied any knowledge of Epstein’s crimes.

“I never had the privilege of going to his island,” Trump said, “and I did turn it down, but a lot of people in Palm Beach were invited to his island. In one of my very good moments, I turned it down, I didn’t want to go to his island.”

The president repeated his denial of a Wall Street Journal report that he allegedly sent Epstein a letter that included a drawing of a naked woman in 2003 for Epstein’s 50th birthday, which the Journal reported was included in a birthday book made for Epstein that contained letters from numerous Epstein associates.

Trump has filed a $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and claims the letter does not exist. Dow Jones, the owner of the Journal, has said it has “full confidence in the rigor and accuracy of our reporting” and will defend against the lawsuit.

“I don’t do drawings. I’m not a drawing person,” Trump said on Monday. “I don’t do drawings. Sometimes you would say, would you draw a building? And I’ll draw four lines and a little roof, you know, for a charity stuff. But I’m not a drawing person. I don’t do drawings of women, that I can tell you.”

Meanwhile, House Democrats are requesting a copy of the alleged “birthday book” and an attorney who has represented hundreds of Epstein’s victims said that the estate was in possession of the book. ABC News has not confirmed the existence of the letter Trump allegedly sent to Epstein for the book.

Trump on Monday also continued to say, without providing evidence, that the controversy was a “hoax” perpetrated by his political enemies, including former President Joe Biden and former FBI Director James Comey.

“Well, I haven’t been overly interested in it,” Trump said of the Epstein files. “You know, it’s something, it’s a hoax that’s been built up way beyond proportion.”

Democrat Roy Cooper launches Senate bid in North Carolina for Tillis’ seat

July 28, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Roy Cooper, the former Democratic governor of North Carolina, officially launched his Senate bid for Republican Sen. Thom Tillis’ open seat in 2026 on Monday.

“I’m Roy Cooper, and I know that today, for too many Americans, the middle class feels like a distant dream. Meanwhile, the biggest corporations and the richest Americans have grabbed unimaginable wealth at your expense. It’s time for that to change,” Cooper said in an announcement video posted on X.

In his announcement, Cooper said he believes that the next election will determine “if we even have a middle class in America anymore.” He doesn’t mention President Donald Trump directly.

“Right now, our country is facing a moment as fragile as any I can remember, and the decisions we make in the next election will determine if we even have a middle class in America anymore. I never really wanted to go to Washington. I just wanted to serve the people of North Carolina, right here where I’ve lived all my life. But these are not ordinary times. Politicians in D.C. are running up our debt, ripping away our health care, disrespecting our veterans, cutting health for the poor, and even putting Medicare and Social Security at risk just to give tax breaks to billionaires. That’s wrong, and I’ve had enough.”

The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) responded to the news in a statement slamming Cooper as both “far left” and anti-Trump, alongside attempting to tie him to former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris.

“Roy Cooper is a Democrat lapdog who spent his time as Governor sabotaging President Trump, doing Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ bidding,” NRSC Communications Director Joanna Rodriguez said partly in a statement. “When Hurricane Helene hit, Cooper’s gross mismanagement left over 100 North Carolinians dead and an estimated $53 billion in damage to businesses, homes, and infrastructure. North Carolina wants a senator who will champion working families, safety, and American values, not an incompetent, far-left career politician like Cooper who will wreck everything they care about.”

As for the Republicans’ pick, multiple sources tell ABC News that RNC Chair Michael Whatley is planning to launch a bid after being asked directly by Trump to run. Trump is hopeful that Whatley, who led the North Carolina Republican Party before becoming RNC chair, has the knowledge of the state, the national profile and the network of relationships to run a strong campaign.

Tillis said in June that he would not seek reelection, citing “the political theatre and partisan gridlock in Washington” and as Trump railed against him for opposing his signature megabill.

ABC’s Hannah Demissie contributed to this report.

Ghislaine Maxwell makes pitch to Supreme Court

July 28, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. Supreme Court should hear Ghislaine Maxwell’s appeal of her 2021 sex trafficking conviction because the government has an “obligation to honor” a non-prosecution agreement with Jeffrey Epstein that inoculated Maxwell from any criminal charges, her lawyers argued in a brief to the Supreme Court Monday.

“Plea and non-prosecution agreements resolve nearly every federal case. They routinely include promises that extend to others—co-conspirators, family members, potential witnesses. If those promises mean different things in different parts of the country, then trust in our system collapses,” the brief said.

Federal prosecutors have argued that the non-prosecution agreement applied only in Florida and did not bind New York, where charges against him, and subsequently Maxwell, were brought.

Maxwell’s attorneys argued the terms of the NPA Epstein signed were unqualified.

“It is not geographically limited to the Southern District of Florida, it is not conditioned on the co-conspirators being known by the government at the time, it does not depend on what any particular government attorney may have had in his or her head about who might be a co-conspirator, and it contains no other caveat or exception. This should be the end of the discussion,” the defense brief said.

The Justice Department has urged the Supreme Court to reject Maxwell’s petition even as Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche agreed to meet with Maxwell last week.

Prosecutors have argued Maxwell cannot enforce the NPA because she was not a party to it. The defense disagreed.

“Petitioner’s alleged status as Epstein’s co-conspirator was the entire basis of her prosecution,” the defense brief said.

“No one is above the law—not even the Southern District of New York. Our government made a deal, and it must honor it. The United States cannot promise immunity with one hand in Florida and prosecute with the other in New York. President Trump built his legacy in part on the power of a deal—and surely he would agree that when the United States gives its word, it must stand by it. We are appealing not only to the Supreme Court but to the President himself to recognize how profoundly unjust it is to scapegoat Ghislaine Maxwell for Epstein’s crimes, especially when the government promised she would not be prosecuted,” Maxwell’s attorney David Oscar Markus said in a statement.

Several hurt in shooting outside casino in Reno: Police

July 28, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(RENO, Nev.) — Several people were injured in a shooting outside a casino in Reno, Nevada, on Monday morning, officials said.

The gunfire unfolded around 7:25 a.m. in the valet area outside the Grand Sierra Resort and Casino, Reno Police Chief Kathryn Nance told Reno ABC affiliate KOLO. The number of victims was not immediately clear but Nance said several people have been taken to hospitals.

The suspect, an adult man, was found within four minutes, police said. He’s been taken to a hospital following an officer-involved shooting, police said.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Authorities were searching for Walmart stabbing suspect prior to incident

July 28, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(TRAVERSE CITY, Mich.) — Authorities were searching for the 42-year-old suspect in Saturday’s Michigan Walmart stabbing rampage less than 24 hours before the incident, the Emmet County Sheriff’s Office said in a release on Monday.

The sheriff’s office on Friday received a court order from the State of Michigan 7th Probate Court of Emmet County instructing that Bradford James Gille be taken into custody, according to the release.

Sheriff’s deputies spent Friday and Saturday patrolling and actively searching for Gille, whom the order identified as homeless. The sheriff’s office did not say why the court order was issued.

“Regrettably, less than 24 hours after receiving this order, a tragic series of events occurred in Traverse City,” the sheriff’s office said in the release. “Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone involved in this devastating situation.”

Gille, whom authorities said was from Cheboygan County, Michigan, facing charges of terrorism and assault with intent to murder after he allegedly stabbed 11 people at a Walmart store in Michigan and was apprehended by a group of citizens, including one armed with a gun, authorities said on Sunday.

The suspect allegedly entered the Walmart store in Traverse City, about 150 miles north of Grand Rapids, around 4:10 p.m. on Saturday and began attacking people with a folding knife, Grand Traverse County Sheriff Michael Shea said at a news conference on Sunday afternoon.

“It appears that these were all random acts,” said Shea, adding that the attacks began near the checkout area.

Shea said investigators are combing through security video that recorded nearly all of the attack.

Witnesses helped law enforcement officers stop the attack and take the suspect in custody, Shea said.

Bystander video that surfaced online and was confirmed as authentic by the sheriff showed a group of citizens, including one who drew a handgun on the suspect, forcing him to drop his knife.

“What they did was amazing,” said Shea, adding that the citizens likely saved others from being attacked.

Shea said a sheriff’s deputy who was near the Walmart at the time of the attack responded to the scene in less than a minute and placed the suspect under arrest.

A motive for the attack remains under investigation, Shea said.

Shea said the suspect attacked the victims without any warning and without making any verbal threats. He said one person was stabbed just outside the store, another was stabbed in the vestibule of the store and the remaining nine victims were attacked inside the store.

The victims, six men and four women, ranged in ages from 29 to 84, Shea said, with three of the victims in their 80s and one in his 70s.

The victims were taken to Munson Medical Center in Traverse City, with six of them initially listed in critical condition and the remaining five in serious condition, authorities said Saturday.

“Over the past 12 hours, we’ve seen encouraging signs of recovery from our patients,” Munson Healthcare said in an updated statement on Sunday morning, which noted that seven of the stabbing victims were in fair condition and four were in serious condition. Officials said during the Sunday afternoon press conference that five of the stabbing victims were now in fair condition, four were in serious condition and one had been released from the hospital.

Shea said no other suspects are being sought in the attack: “We believe he acted alone at this time.”

Grand Traverse County Prosecuting Attorney Noelle Moeggenberg said during Sunday’s press conference that Gille is expected to be arraigned on Monday. Moeggenberg said he’s charged with terrorism because he allegedly attempted to strike fear in the community.

“Thankfully no one else was injured,” the sheriff said, adding, “Eleven is 11 too many but thank God it wasn’t more.”

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a statement on X that she was monitoring the situation.

“I’m in touch with law enforcement about the horrible news out of Traverse City. Our thoughts are with the victims and the community reeling from this brutal act of violence,” she said.

FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said in a statement on social media that FBI personnel responded to the scene, “to provide any necessary support to the Grand Traverse County Sheriff’s Office in their investigation of the attacks at the Walmart.”

In a statement, a Walmart spokesperson said “Violence like this is unacceptable. Our thoughts are with those who were injured and we’re thankful for the swift action of first responders. We’ll continue working closely with law enforcement during their investigation.”

What’s in Trump’s trade agreement with the European Union?

July 28, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — President Donald Trump unveiled a trade agreement with the European Union on Sunday, making it the latest in a series of accords as the White House threatens to slap tariffs on dozens of countries this week.

Prior to the agreement, the European Union faced the prospect of a 30% tariff rate set to take effect Aug. 1. Instead, products from one of the largest U.S. trade partners will be slapped with a 15% tariff.

In exchange, the EU said European companies would buy $750 billion worth of energy-related goods over three years and invest an extra $600 billion in the U.S.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Trump touted the agreement as the “biggest deal ever made.” The White House has yet to release full details of the accord.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the agreement “creates certainty in uncertain times. It delivers stability and predictability for citizens and businesses on both sides of the Atlantic.”

Here’s what to know about what’s in the trade agreement and what comes next:

What’s in the U.S. trade agreement with the European Union?

The trade agreement lowers the tariff rate on European products to 15%, putting it below the threatened rate of 30% but higher than a universal rate of 10% faced by nearly all imports.

The 15% tariffs on European products match the level of levies established for Japanese goods in a separate agreement last week. A trade agreement with Vietnam earlier this month set U.S. tariffs at 20%, while Chinese goods currently face 30% tariffs.

The agreement includes tariff exemptions for aircraft, semiconductor equipment and some chemical and agricultural goods, von der Leyen said.

The European Union purchased about $370 billion worth of U.S. products in 2024, while the U.S. bought about $605 billion worth of Japanese goods, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, a government agency.

Last year, the U.S. goods trade deficit with the EU was $235.6 billion, which marked a nearly 13% increase from 2023, the agency said.

Top U.S imports from Europe include pharmaceuticals, cars, machinery, wine and perfume.

Tariffs typically raise prices as importers pass along a share of the tax burden to consumers, though prices have largely averted major tariff-related hikes so far.

In exchange for the softening of U.S. tariffs, the EU agreed to reduce its tariff on U.S.-made cars from 10% to 2.5%.

The EU also said European companies would buy $750 billion worth of energy-related goods over three years and invest an extra $600 billion in the U.S.

What’s next ahead of Trump’s tariff deadline on Aug. 1?

So far, Trump has brokered agreements with the United Kingdom, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Japan and the European Union. The White House also reached a preliminary accord with China that lowered tit-for-tat tariffs previously imposed by the world’s two largest economies.

On Friday, tariffs are set to take effect for dozens of additional countries, including some of the nation’s major trade partners: Canada, Mexico, South Korea and Brazil.

For his part, the president has insisted that the on-again, off-again levies make up a key part of his negotiation strategy.

“The president and his trade team want to cut the best deals for the American people and the American worker,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said last month when she announced the Aug. 1 deadline.

When asked on Sunday whether the Aug. 1 deadline could be extended, Trump said, “No.”

“Aug. 1 is there for everyone,” Trump added. “The deals all start on Aug. 1.”

Kaylee Goncalves’ sister speaks out about courtroom confrontation with Bryan Kohberger

July 28, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(BOISE, Idaho) — The world came to know the feisty older sister of University of Idaho murder victim Kaylee Goncalves after she gave a ferocious victim impact statement at Bryan Kohberger’s sentencing last week. She said she memorized her speech so she wouldn’t break eye contact with him in the courtroom.

“I was prepared to be arrested that day,” Alivea Goncalves told ABC News of the fiery moment she confronted her younger sister’s killer in court.

Alivea Goncalves said to Kohberger, “You’re a delusional, pathetic, hypochondriac loser who thought you were so much smarter than everybody else. … You aren’t special or deep, not mysterious or exceptional. … No one thinks you are important.”

“I was fueled by seeing the rage on his face,” she told ABC News. “Man … was he mad. That was obviously a big point of why I did what I did — to make him feel small.”

Alivea Goncalves also asked pointed questions like, “What was second weapon you used on Kaylee?” A hypothetical question in the moment, but one that investigators have yet to figure out. Kaylee Goncalves had unique injuries described as a horizontal pattern, and it’s not clear what caused them, police confirmed to ABC News.

“I had one shot at it and I was gonna make the most of it,” Alivea Goncalves said.

Alivea Goncalves said she did eliminate a few thoughts from her statement after realizing Kohberger’s mom and sister were in the courtroom.

“I didn’t anticipate his mother and sister being there,” she said. “And I had specific lines that were directed towards his relationship with his mother and directed towards the shame that he has caused his family, and how the ultimate move of a coward is for him to sit behind bars while the rest of his family has to bear the real weight, the shame of what he’s done.”

She concluded her statement with memorable words to Kohberger, saying that if he hadn’t attacked the students in their sleep, “Kaylee would’ve kicked your f—— ass.”

“I got up there knowing that my speech wasn’t to Kaylee and Maddie — it was for them. … I just wanted to reclaim their power,” she said.

Kaylee, Kaylee’s lifelong best friend Maddie Mogen, their roommate Xana Kernodle and Xana’s boyfriend Ethan Chapin were stabbed to death at the girls’ off-campus house in the early hours of Nov. 13, 2022. On Wednesday, their killer was sentenced to four consecutive life sentences on the four first-degree murder counts and the maximum penalty of 10 years on the burglary count after pleading guilty to all charges.

Kaylee Goncalves was stabbed more than 30 times and had defensive wounds, according to a police report released for the first time last week. The 21-year-old was described as “unrecognizable as her facial structure was extremely damaged,” the report said.

“It’s gruesome and it’s graphic,” Alivea Goncalves acknowledged, but she said it’s information she wanted because she knows “Kaylee absolutely fought for her life.”

In November 2022, when news of the deaths at 1122 King Road reached Alivea Goncalves, she said she started going through her sister’s phone records to see if she had made any calls, convincing herself Kaylee wasn’t picking up her phone because she was at the police station answering questions. But Alivea Goncalves would never speak to her sister again.

Their last conversation was a six-hour FaceTime during which Alivea Goncalves guided her sister through buying her Range Rover, which the 21-year-old proudly drove to Moscow to show her friends on her last trip to their college house. Their dad drives the car now. Alivea Goncalves said many of Kaylee’s other belongings were picked up by their parents, covered in blood and in hazmat bags.

Alivea Goncalves made Kaylee Goncalves an aunt twice over before she died, and twice more after. She was pregnant with a girl when Kaylee Goncalves was murdered, and she named that baby Theo MaddieKay. Alivea Goncalves calls Kaylee and Maddie soulmates, and she describes their namesake as the perfect mixture of Kaylee and Maddie.

Heat indices could hit 120 as sweltering temperatures grip Eastern US

July 28, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — More than 185 million people across from South Dakota to Florida and up the East Coast to Boston are on alert for widespread, dangerous heat on Monday and into the new work week, and parts of the Southeast could experience the brunt of the sweltering conditions.

On average, nearly 2,000 Americans die from extreme heat each year, according to CDC data going back to 2020.

The highest temperatures on Monday will be focused in the southeast from the Carolinas to Florida where extreme where heat indices — that is, what the temperatures feel like when humidity is factored in — are forecast to be between 105 and 113 degrees.

Parts of Mississippi and Louisiana are on alert for heat indices up to 120 degrees.

Extreme heat is also expected to continue on Monday and Tuesday in the Midwest, where over the weekend temperatures felt between 97 to 111 degrees from Lincoln, Nebraska, up into Minneapolis.

The Northeast coast from Philadelphia to Boston, including New York City, are in store for multiple days of dangerous heat. Heat indices in the Northeast are forecast to make it feel like the mid-90s to 113 on Monday.

In addition to the sweltering condition, smoke from Canadian wildfires is expected to continue to create hazy conditions in New York City, New Jersey and Connecticut. Over the weekend, smoke from multiple wildfires in Canada prompted an air-quality alert.

Looking ahead to the work week, potentially life-threatening heat and humidity are expected to continue across the eastern half of the country through Wednesday. Major cities including St. Louis, Memphis, Charlotte, Savannah, Tampa, and Jackson, Mississippi, are all likely all see actual temperatures in the upper 90s to low 100s. A prolonged heat wave is forecast for those regions as an abundance of tropical moisture settling in is expected to drive the feels-like temperatures up to between 105 to 115 degrees over multiple consecutive days.

Nighttime and early mornings are not expected to provide relief from the sweltering conditions. Overnight and early morning lows are expected to fall only to the 70s or higher.

Between Monday and Wednesday, large portions of the Southeast are expected to be under an extreme heat risk at a four-out-of-four level, including the cities of Atlanta, Charlotte, and Jacksonville and Tallahassee, Florida.

On Sunday, Tampa, Florida, broke an all-time heat record — reaching 100 degrees for the first time in 130 years of recordkeeping.

‘I don’t know’: Trump says of Netanyahu denying Gaza starvation crisis

July 28, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(LONDON) — Asked if he believed Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s claim that there’s no starvation crisis in Gaza, U.S. President Donald Trump replied, “I don’t know,” but then mentioned the images of starving children in Gaza appearing on TV.

“I don’t know. I mean, based on television, I would say not particularly, because those children look very hungry, but we’re giving a lot of money and a lot of food, and other nations are now stepping up,” Trump said Monday as he met with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Scotland.

Starmer quickly chimed in, calling what’s happening in Gaza a humanitarian crisis and “an absolute catastrophe.”

The comments came hours after the Hamas-run Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip said in a statement that another 14 people died of malnutrition over the previous 24 hours, including two children.

Another 29 Palestinians were killed by Israeli airstrikes since midnight local time, the ministry said.

Eleven people were also killed on Monday morning near aid distribution sites, two local hospitals that received the bodies told ABC News.

Those officials said the sites were run by the U.S.- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, but a spokesperson for that group told ABC News no incidents had been reported as of midday.

Israel on Sunday said it was beginning daily military pauses in several densely populated areas to facilitate the movement of aid into the territory.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Trump sets Putin new Ukraine ceasefire deadline, says he’s ‘disappointed’ in Moscow

July 28, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(LONDON) — During his visit to the U.K. on Monday, President Donald Trump expressed further frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin over Moscow’s continued long-range attacks on Ukraine.

The president said he would shorten the 50-day window offered to Putin earlier this month in which to agree to a ceasefire deal or face punishing sanctions and tariffs.

“I’m disappointed in President Putin, very disappointed in him,” Trump told reporters. “So we’re going to have to look and I’m going to reduce that 50 days that I gave him to lesser number, because I think I already know the answer what’s going to happen.”

“I’m going to make a new deadline of about 10 or 12 days from today,” Trump said later in the press conference. There’s no reason in waiting.”

“I want to be generous, but we just don’t see any progress being made,” Trump added.

Trump’s remarks came hours after Polish and allied NATO aircraft were scrambled in response to a large Russian drone and missile attack launched into Ukraine on Sunday night, per a statement from Polish military’s Operational Command.

“Polish and allied duty aircraft have been scrambled and ground-based air defense and radar reconnaissance systems have reached the highest state of readiness,” the command said in a statement posted to X in the early hours of Monday morning, as hundreds of drones and missiles targeted sites across Ukraine.

The alert lasted for around three hours, after which the command posted another statement saying that “deployed forces and resources have returned to standard operational activities.”

NATO’s Air Command and Swedish JAS 39 Gripen fighters stationed in Poland took part in the response, the Polish Operational Command said.

An official at Lithuania’s Defense Ministry confirmed to ABC News that a drone also crossed into Lithuania from Belarusian airspace. Russian forces regularly route drones through Belarusian airspace to attack Ukrainian targets from the north. A search for the drone was still underway as of Monday morning, the official said.

Russia launched 324 drones and seven missiles into Ukraine overnight, the Ukrainian air force said in a statement published on Telegram.

Of those, 309 drones and two missiles were shot down or suppressed, it said, with 15 strike drones and two missiles impacting across three locations.

At least eight people were injured in Kyiv after a Russian drone hit a residential highrise, the head of the city’s military administration said in a post to Telegram.

Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office, wrote on Telegram that the most recent barrage was evidence of Putin’s lack of commitment to a proposed ceasefire.

“This is how Putin responds to calls to end the war and sit at the negotiating table,” he wrote. “Russian air attacks are still ongoing, with civilian infrastructure, homes and people, including in Kyiv, already affected.”

“There is no alternative to sanctions, strengthening Ukraine’s long-range capabilities and tough actions against Putin’s circle and Putin himself,” Yermak wrote. “He wants nothing but war and Ukraine’s defeat. And there will be no defeat.”

Referring to the scrambling of NATO aircraft and the drone crossing into Lithuania, Yermak added, “The Russians and their satellites are testing NATO’s reaction. Drones entering the airspace of the Baltic countries are signals that cannot be ignored.”

Zelenskyy also posted to Telegram noting that Kyiv is “constantly strengthening the Ukrainian air shield and it is very important to maintain full understanding among partners about how exactly they can help. Step by step, we are closing the funding gap for drone production and this week I will have new talks with partners regarding this task.”

“Restoration and rescue work is currently underway everywhere it is needed,” the president added of the overnight drone and missile impacts. “This particularly concerns electricity supply. Necessary assistance is being provided to the wounded.”

Russia’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said its forces shot down seven Ukrainian drones overnight.

ABC News’ Hannah Demissie, Michelle Stoddart, Lalee Ibssa and Fidel Pavlenko contributed to this report.

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