Ukraine’s spy chief vows revenge for Russian strike on Kyiv

KYIV — Ukraine wants to pay back Russian “monsters” for the massive missile attack on Kyiv that killed at least 12 and wounded 90 people this week, spy boss Kyrylo Budanov said Friday.

“The flags in the capital are now lowered in mourning, but our armed struggle continues — we are strong, and we will ensure that Russia receives the full retribution it deserves,” Budanov, head of the Ukrainian Military Intelligence directorate, also known as HUR, said in a statement Friday.

Kyiv is in mourning, with flags lowered around the capital. In the early hours of Thursday, Russia struck Kyiv and nine other regions of Ukraine with more than 150 missiles and drones.

The State Emergency Service of Ukraine has finished its search and rescue operation in the rubble of a residential building in the Sviatoshynskyi district of Kyiv that was hit directly by a missile, killing several people.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia might have used a ballistic missile made by North Korea in the strike.

“No country in the world should be left alone against such threats,” he added, calling on allies to apply more pressure on Russia.

The demand comes as U.S. President Donald Trump’s team tries to broker a ceasefire deal with Russia, which would involve Ukraine giving up swathes of its territory to the Kremlin. Trump described the Kyiv strikes as “Not necessary, and very bad timing,” and asked “Vladimir” to “STOP!”

Trump also responded to criticism that he is only putting pressure on Kyiv, not Moscow, forcing it to cede territory to Russia and drop its NATO aspirations, while offering no security guarantees.

“We’re putting a lot of pressure on Russia and Russia knows that. Or he wouldn’t be talking right now,” Trump told reporters on Thursday.

But Kyiv isn’t convinced that Trump is applying pressure equally or fairly.

“He rushes and pushes because he wants to get a deal [by] 100 days in office anniversary,” an Ukrainian official familiar with negotiations told POLITICO on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter.

“The problem is that Americans say something publicly and put pressure on Ukraine, but they don’t say directly what exactly they want. What territories do they mean? They don’t say it directly,” the official added.