Zelenskyy: Putin's Vow Not Reality     03/19 06:10

   Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday that a vow by Russian 
counterpart Vladimir Putin not to attack energy infrastructure was "very much 
at odds with reality" following an overnight barrage of drone strikes across 
the country.

   KYIV, Ukraine (AP) -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday 
that a vow by Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin not to attack energy 
infrastructure was "very much at odds with reality" following an overnight 
barrage of drone strikes across the country.

   Zelenskyy said that he would speak with U.S. President Donald Trump later in 
the day and expected to hear more about the American leader's phone call with 
Putin about a ceasefire and to discuss the next steps to be taken.

   "Even last night, after Putin's conversation with ... Trump, when Putin said 
that he was allegedly giving orders to stop strikes on Ukrainian energy, there 
were 150 drones launched overnight, including on energy facilities," Zelenskyy 
said at a news conference in Helsinki with Finnish President Alexander Stubb.

   The strikes, which hit civilian areas and damaged a hospital, followed 
Putin's refusal to back a full 30-day ceasefire during discussions with Trump.

   The White House described the call between Trump and Putin as the first step 
in a "movement to peace" that Washington hopes will include a maritime 
ceasefire in the Black Sea and eventually a full and lasting end to the 
fighting.

   But there was no indication that Putin backed away from his conditions for a 
prospective peace deal, which are fiercely opposed by Kyiv.

   Zelenskyy said that one of the most difficult issues in future negotiations 
would be the issue of territorial concessions.

   "For us, the red line is the recognition of the Ukrainian temporarily 
occupied territories as Russian," he said. "We will not go for it."

   Shortly after the lengthy phone call between Trump and Putin on Tuesday, air 
raid sirens sounded in Kyiv, followed by explosions as residents took shelter.

   Despite efforts to repel the attack, several strikes hit civilian 
infrastructure, including a direct drone strike on a hospital in Sumy and 
attacks on cities in Donetsk region. Russian drones were also reported over 
Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Sumy, Chernihiv, Poltava, Kharkiv, Kirovohrad, Dnipropetrovsk, 
and Cherkasy regions.

   The Russian Defense Ministry reported Wednesday that its air defenses 
intercepted 57 Ukrainian drones over the Azov Sea and several Russian regions 
-- the border provinces of Kursk and Bryansk and the nearby regions of Oryol 
and Tula.

   Separately, authorities in the Krasnodar region bordering the Crimean 
Peninsula, which was annexed by Russia in 2014, reported that a drone attack 
there started a fire at an oil depot.