NATO was forced to scramble warplanes overnight as Vladimir Putin launched brutal missile and drone strikes, which left the smoke-choked Ukrainian city Kremenchuk looking like a scene from Armageddon.
The horrific Russian attacks came even as Donald Trump claimed the Russian tyrant had agreed to peace talks with Volodymyr Zelensky, with hopes that a meeting would take place by the end of August.
This followed the Trump-Zelensky talks and the involvement of Sir Keir Starmer and European leaders in a White House session aimed at ending the war.
But there were immediate doubts on Putin's sincerity, both from his overnight use of strategic bombers to hit Ukraine, and his aide Yury Ushakov failing to specify that the Kremlin leader would personally take part in talks with Zelensky while accepting the level of seniority of the delegation could be raised.
Polish and other NATO fighters were scrambled due to the intensity of the Russian attacks on Ukraine, which involved Tu-95MS strategic bombers unleashing cruise missiles as they flew over the Caspian Sea.
