Good evening. I'm Laura Barone Lopez. Jeff Bennett and Omna Nawaz are away.

On the news hour tonight, Russia escalates its assault on Ukraine, drawing criticism from President Trump

and complicating U.S. efforts to broker a peace deal.

We hear from a handful of Democratic candidates who are launching primary bids in hopes of charting a new

path forward for a party in disarray. And major charity organizations face an uncertain future after

the Trump administration halted foreign aid. We're going to have to start from scratch.

And that, you know, I hope that the funding is resumed in full tomorrow, but even if it were,

this damage is permanent.

Welcome to the News Hour. Russia is escalating its bombing campaign against Ukraine with a massive drone attack

hitting cities and towns overnight and into this morning.

In the past week alone, 30 Ukrainians have been killed and more than 163 injured.

That's prompted President Trump to lash out at Russian President Vladimir Putin,

but also Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, as diplomacy stalls and violence rages.

A late night for Ukraine, as flames and sirens broke through the darkness.

Overnight, Russia sent the biggest drone attack of the entire war so far.

Ukrainian Air Force officials say more than 355 drones came from Russia last night.

And the night before, 298 drones.

Plus almost 69 missiles.

Today, Ukrainian President Volodomir Zelenskyy said the attacks made it clear Russian President

Vladimir Putin didn't want to end the war.

All the more so as Russian strikes are becoming increasingly brazen. Over 900 attack drones launched against Ukraine in just three days, along with ballistic and cruise missiles.

On Sunday outside of Kiev, Ivan and Lubo Federenko's home was destroyed.

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