Russian forces fired 367 drones and rockets overnight at Ukrainian cities, including the capital Kiev, in the largest airstrike of the war so far, killing at least 12 people and wounding dozens of others, Ukrainian officials said. N1.
Three children were among the dead in the northern Zhytomyr region, local officials said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on the United States, which has taken a softer public stance toward Russia and its leader Vladimir Putin since President Donald Trump took office, to be louder.
"The silence of America, the silence of others in the world only encourages Putin," he wrote on Telegram. "Every such terrorist Russian attack is reason enough for new sanctions against Russia."
It was the largest attack in this war in terms of the number of weapons fired, but not in terms of casualties. Interior Minister Ihor Klimenko said that 12 people were killed and 60 wounded.
"This was a combined, merciless attack targeting civilians. The enemy has once again shown that its goal is fear and death," he wrote on Telegram.
The attack came as Ukraine and Russia prepare for the third and final day of a prisoner exchange in which each side will exchange a total of 1000 people.
Ukraine and its European allies are trying to force Moscow to sign a 30-day ceasefire as a first step in talks to end the more than three-year war. Their efforts were slowed earlier this week when Trump refused to impose additional sanctions on Moscow for not agreeing to an immediate halt to the fighting, which Kiev had hoped for.
The Ukrainian Air Force said Russia launched 298 drones and 69 missiles in its nighttime attack, but also shot down 266 drones and 45 missiles. Damage was done in a number of regional centers, including Ukraine's second largest city Kharkiv, as well as Mykolaiv in the south and Ternopil in the west. In Kyiv, Timur Tkachenko, head of the city's military administration, said 11 people were injured in drone attacks.
There were no deaths in the capital, although four people were killed in the region around the city, according to officials. This was the second major airstrike in two days. On Friday night, Russia launched dozens of drones and ballistic missiles at Kiev in waves that continued throughout the night.
Source: N1
Photo: EPA/STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE OF UKRAINE HANDOUT
