Russian drone hits a park next to a café in the Kharkiv region: Zelensky asks for air defence, Trump delays sanctions

A Russian Shahed drone struck people directly in a park, next to an ordinary café, in the Kharkiv region of north-eastern Ukraine. Six people were killed, children among them. Another 14 were injured, six of them children. The figures were announced by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Among the dead is a girl named Angelina, born in August 2025, who was in her pushchair at the moment of the attack. Her mother, Inna, died in hospital. An eleven-year-old girl was also killed. "A horrific Russian attack on the Kharkiv region. The drones directly hit people in a park, near a café. This is an act of pure barbarism," Zelensky wrote on X.

Zelensky once again asked partners for more support, above all for air defence. "These are horrifying photos, but behind them are destroyed lives and the truth about this war. Lives must be protected. Ukraine needs air defence," he said. He asked for sanctions on Russia to stay in place as long as the killing goes on and warned that nobody can make money with Moscow while it wages war.

He asked America to be strong and to apply the so-called law of Senator Lindsey Graham to tighten pressure on Russia, and Europe to keep up its support. The plea comes at a moment when Washington is heading in the opposite direction. Donald Trump refused to sign the new package of sanctions against Moscow passed by Congress, saying he does not want to "stupidly push Russia away from the negotiating table". He recently also temporarily lifted the ban on imports of Russian diesel.

"Ukraine wants peace. It is Russia that has insisted on continuing the killing this whole time. The world has enough strength to stop the war," Zelensky wrote. The strength does exist. The Balkans remember what it costs when great powers decide they will react later. Why are those who hold that strength still keeping it in a drawer, while drones fall on parks and cafés?