Zelensky’s plea for defence as Russia launches largest aerial assault
Russia has launched its biggest aerial assault on Ukraine since the start of the war in a sharp escalation in the strikes on civilians intended to wear down air defences and break public morale.
Air raid sirens rang out on Saturday night and into the early hours of Sunday as more than 500 drones, missiles and glide bombs were launched at cities across Ukraine.
Of those, 475 were either shot down or lost, probably after being electronically jammed, Ukraine’s air force said. Almost 90 per cent of the weapons fired were Shahed drones — originally made by Iran — after Moscow increased its production of them this year.
Russia also launched seven Iskander ballistic missiles and four hypersonic Kinzhal missiles.
Many of the areas targeted were hundreds of miles from the front lines. They included the western Ukrainian regions of Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Ternopil. Cherkasy, Poltava and Kremenchuk, in central Ukraine, and Mykolaiv and Zaporizhzhia, in the south, were also hit.
The attack killed one person and injured seven, including a child. It also damaged homes and infrastructure, the authorities said.
A Ukrainian fighter pilot died “like a hero” while repelling the attack, officials said. After his F-16 jet was struck shooting down aerial targets, Lieutenant Colonel Maksym Ustymenko, 31, steered away from a settlement but was not able to eject in time to survive. He had a four-year-old son.
“The pilot used all of his onboard weapons and shot down seven air targets. While shooting down the last one, his aircraft was damaged and began to lose altitude,” the air force said. President Zelensky paid tribute to Ustymenko while reiterating Ukraine’s need for US-made Patriot air defence systems.
President Trump said at a Nato summit last week that he was considering sending more Patriots to Ukraine, though it was not clear whether he intended a donation or to sell them.
Zelensky said on Sunday: “We need protection, from ballistic missiles, from drones, from terror. We are ready to buy these American systems.”
Russia has intensified its bombing of Ukraine over the past two months. Last summer, between 10 and 30 Shaheds targeted Ukraine on an average night. This summer, Russia has on several nights launched more than 300.
Having imported the drones from Iran, Russia began producing them domestically in 2023. It makes nearly 200 drones a day, according to Ukrainian military intelligence.
On Friday, President Putin said he was open for a third round of peace talks with Ukraine. Rustem Umerov, the Ukrainian defence minister, said officials were working to organise a direct meeting between Zelensky and Putin during the negotiations, a proposition that Putin has so far rejected.
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