Russia ended a three-week pause in large-scale attacks by unleashing a wave of missiles and drones across Ukraine, including a strike on a US-owned electronics plant in Mukachevo, western Ukraine. The assault came just days after Russian President Vladimir Putin met US President Donald Trump in Alaska on 15 August.

Trump, who had earlier threatened harsher penalties against Moscow, softened his stance following the summit and is now pushing for direct talks between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. European leaders joined Zelenskiy in Washington this week as negotiations over long-term security guarantees for Ukraine continue.

The attack on Flex Ltd’s facility, one of the world’s top electronics manufacturers, injured at least 19 and sparked a massive fire. Ukrainian officials said the strike underscored Russia’s defiance of global peace efforts.

“This is not the first Russian attack on American businesses in Ukraine,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said, citing earlier strikes on Boeing’s Kyiv offices. Andy Hunder of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine condemned the targeting of US firms and urged Trump to “show Putin that the United States protects its own.”

Zelenskiy stressed the timing was deliberate, saying, “The Russians carried out this attack as if nothing has changed at all, as if there are no global efforts to stop this war.”

Mukachevo, just 40 kilometers from Hungary’s border, had not been hit since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.