Key Points and Summary – Russia launched what is being called the largest drone attack of the war against Ukraine this past weekend, firing over 800 drones.
-The barrage killed several civilians and, for the first time, struck a top government building in Kyiv—the Cabinet of Ministers.
-The escalation, reportedly enabled by Chinese drone components, drew threats of new sanctions from U.S. President Donald Trump.
-However, the Kremlin responded defiantly, with a spokesman declaring that four years of sanctions have had “no effect whatsoever” and will not force Russia to change its position, creating a tense diplomatic standoff.
Russia Won’t Stop Hitting Ukraine With Drones
Rather than any move towards peace talks, the biggest news of the weekend involving Russia and Ukraine was a barrage launched by Moscow, which has been called the largest of the war to date.
Per CNN, the attack, which started on Saturday and continued into Sunday, included more than 800 drones and also managed to strike a government building in Kyiv, a first in this war. The strike hit the Cabinet of Ministers building, which houses Ukraine’s prime minister.
Two people were killed in Kyiv, one of them an infant, the report said. Four people were killed across Ukraine.
“In Kyiv, ordinary residential buildings have been destroyed. In one of them, the floors between the 4th and 8th stories have collapsed. As of now, two people have been reported killed, including one child,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X. My condolences to all their loved ones. In total, dozens were injured in the capital alone. The Cabinet of Ministers building was damaged – a fire broke out on the upper floors. More than 20 houses and a kindergarten were damaged in Zaporizhzhia.”
The attack was condemned by several Western leaders, and Zelenskyy thanked them all individually on X.
The massive drone attack comes as the Institute for the Study of War reported last week that Russia has been expanding its long-range strike drone production capacity, as part of a deal with China to produce components.
“Russia is increasingly relying on the PRC for its drone components and would not be able to sustain the pace or mass of its Shahed-type drone production without these components. A recent investigation by the Ukraine-based, open-source intelligence organization Frontelligence Insight found that the ASEZ alone depends on the PRC for at least 41 components to produce its long-range strike drones,” the report said.
Another Sanctions Threat
After the latest attack, President Donald Trump threatened additional sanctions on Russia.
Trump told reporters on Sunday that he is “not happy with the whole situation.”
Also on Sunday, in an interview with NBC News, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called for the EU to increase sanctions and place more secondary tariffs in place, with the goal that “the Russian economy will be in total collapse, and that will bring President Putin to the table.”
“We are in a race now between how long can the Ukrainian military hold up, versus how long can the Russian economy hold up,” Bessent added.
Zelenskyy also appeared on the Sunday shows, telling ABC News that Russian President Vladimir Putin got what he wanted out of last month’s summit in Alaska with Trump.
“It’s a pity that Ukraine was not there, because I think that President Trump gave, gave Putin what he wanted,” the Ukrainian leader said, referring to Putin wanting to get a public meeting with his U.S. counterpart for the first time in years.
“Putin doesn’t want to meet with me, but he wants very much to meet with the president of the United States, to show everybody video and images that he is there,” Zelenskyy told ABC’s Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Martha Raddatz.
Russia Responds
According to Sky News, the Kremlin has responded to Trump’s threat of more sanctions.
“Asked about Trump’s comments, the Kremlin said Europe and Ukraine were doing everything they could to draw the US into their orbit,” Sky News reported on Sunday. “It added that no sanctions will ever be able to force Russia to change its position.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was even more blunt in comments over the weekend.
“Overall, one thing can probably be said: This unprecedented number of sanctions that have been imposed on our country over the past—well, it’s already almost four years, now four years—have had no effect whatsoever.”
About the Author: Stephen Silver
Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist, and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review, and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, national security, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
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Swamplaw Yankee
September 9, 2025 at 11:38 pm
This “Keyboarder on the Roof” Opera just has no end! His op-ed shtick never ends.
Back in 2012-2013 Putin’s NAZI-like FSB ignited their long laid latent network(s) of agitators they invested big rubles into. Big russkie money was spent inside independent Ukraine on the “LONG GAME”, re-starting the ancient 1000 year old Genocide of Ukrainians in 2014 while delivering the monster butchery event a bit later in 2022.
Putin dreamed of exceeding his grandfathers Genocide event the “HOLODOMOR” where 20,000,000 Ukrainians were eliminated in 1932-33 by enthusiastic orc russkie butchers. Suddenly vacant homes, farms, factories, towns, cities were moved into for FREE. Huge areas ofUkrainian real estate was FREE with just a little russkie butchery.
Putin wanted to wear his own Halloween costume of his NAZI-like FSB, not the Grandfathers Stalinist costume, as he outdid Grandpop in the biggest FREE real estate grab in modern history.
All Putin needed was the agreement of POTUS Obama + the Democrat Cabal to green light the re-start of the ancient 1000 year old Genocide of Ukrainians by the orc russkie ethnics.
Using the tried, tested 1986 con Putin’s KGB gave Serbia, the fake language scam, Putin easily outwitted marxist mulatto POTUS in 2014. Obama was so excited to help out his marxist blood brothers in Moscow and betray NATO by the loss of Ukraine’s Crimean soil, families and Black/Azov Sea jurisdictional zones to the prime vile cold war enemy of the WEST, tsarling Putin.
The PRC CCP Xi regime was all in with Putin for the “LONG GAME”! While whispering “kitman” with “taysir” mixed in, the “Axis of Gulag states” was able to twist Obama into dancing like a muslim as he played into the role of Benedict Arnold. “YEAH, yeah, China is so very neutral was re-whispered into the ears of any Yankee inner beltway dunce who the PRC muslims could bend into “Hiyal”.
The PRC CCP Xi regime will fund any trillion of rubles that Putin will need. The PRC knows that the Yankee MSM is sleeping and the voter swallows the PRC kitman the Han muslims shovel out.
So, we now are on the “Genocide of Ukrainians” missile/drone count. As predicted here, years back, the “Axis of Gulag states” will evolve the 24/7 weekly attack missile/drone reserve to a missile a minute.
As MAGA POTUS Trumkins allows Wallmart, Target, Nvidia, etc., to trunami wave US dollars into PRC muslim hands, the PRC has Putin’s Back with whatever deficit funding the orc russkies may need. The delusion of sanctions is such a basic “Darura” that leaves the CCP elite laughing in the aisles.
The US MSM will shovel out weekly headlines of greatest missile strikes from Putin ever till most every American will scream in fright, “sell out all of Ukraine and asap”!
Or course, Putin’s insiders are laughing at unenforced USA sanctions, used as window dressing. The Putin elite know how much cash the PRC CCP has invested into their “LONG GAME” to Genocide Ukrainians.
Putin has to satisfy the grandchildren of the parasites of 1933. These russkies have blown the stolen cash on vodka and “Lolita” packages from the FREE real estate they grabbed in 1933 and now demand a FREE real estate refill from the few Ukrainians they did not butcher in 1933.
Putin gives them the FREE “Lolita” children packages since 2014,. Putin gives all russkie butchers FREE Ukrainian real estate, thanks to the MAGA POTUS Trumpkins. Trumpkins understands real estate and that his buddy Putin needs this tangible enticement to motivate butchers to run across fields to continue the Genocide of Ukrainians.
The PRC CCP Xi regime is shipping attack missile/ drones 24/7 to build up a reserve like the world has never seen. As MAGA POTUS Trumpkins blathers, refuses to comprehend that Ukraine is the only ethnic group fighting for the WEST, refuses to fund Ukraine in missile/drone reserves, Trump blatantly, openly assists the enemy of the WEST.
Once Xi’s regime has PUTIN equipped to fire a missile/drone a minute 24/7 for a straight month, with a minimum of a month in reserve, what exactly will the WEST have as options? The WEST is all so fake scared to place a single boot on Ukrainian soil.
MAGA POTUS elite will make the covert moves to surrender to the PRC as long as someone gets to keep his bitcoin.
Trump is not from a military Family: period. What was the excuse: Heel spur? Trump seems scared of Ukraine, where Ukrainian women and little children know exactly why only they are fighting russkie orcs on the line of Genocide. No need for AI, that skews so badly.
The muslim PRC CCP needs to ship these missile/ drone reserves to their other “Axis of Gulag states”. Once muslim Iraq can shoot every minute every hour 24/7 for a month, with a few months of missile/drones nicely stored in reserve, maybe MAGA POTUS elites will be motivated to try to imitate the Japanese of 1945. -30-