Kyiv: Russia launched another heavy aerial assault on Ukraine on Thursday, marking the third major attack within four days. The Ukrainian air force reported that Russian forces fired five missiles and 74 Shahed drones, primarily targeting Ukrainian cities and infrastructure.
Ukraine’s air defenses successfully intercepted two missiles and 60 drones, while 14 additional drones are believed to have fallen before reaching their intended targets. In Kyiv, debris from intercepted drones caused minor damage across three districts, but no injuries were reported, according to local authorities.
These persistent long-range strikes on civilian areas have been a hallmark of Russia’s invasion since it began in February 2022. Ukrainian officials continue to urge Western nations to lift restrictions on Ukraine’s use of long-range weapons, enabling them to target Russian territory more effectively.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reiterated his call for increased support from Western allies, emphasizing the need to remove limitations on long-range strikes against Russian targets. “All our partners should be more active—much more active—in countering Russian terror,” Zelenskyy stated on Wednesday night. “We continue to insist that their determination now—lifting the restrictions on long-range strikes for Ukraine now—will help us to end the war as soon as possible in a fair way for Ukraine and the world as a whole.”
On Thursday, the European Union’s top diplomat expressed support for Zelenskyy’s appeal to international backers to remove these limits.
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Ukraine has been utilizing domestically produced drones to carry out strikes within Russian territory. The Russian military reported that it had thwarted an overnight attack on Crimea, stating that its forces destroyed three Ukrainian sea drones targeting the Black Sea peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014. Sevastopol’s Russia-installed governor, Mikhail Razvozhayev, confirmed that four Ukrainian aerial drones and three sea drones were destroyed “at a significant distance” from the peninsula’s shore.
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Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Army General Staff confirmed on Thursday its involvement in recent strikes on oil depots deep within Russia, resulting in significant fires. The attacks in the Rostov and Kirov regions were part of Ukraine’s broader strategy to disrupt the logistical infrastructure supporting Russia’s military efforts.
