Russia launched its biggest aerial attack on Ukraine overnight, according to a Ukrainian official, marking an escalation in bombing campaigns and further diminishing hopes for a resolution to the three-year-old war.
Ukraine’s air force reported that Russia employed a total of 537 aerial weapons, including 477 drones and decoys, along with 60 missiles.
Of the aerial weapons used, 249 were intercepted and shot down, while 226 were reportedly lost, likely due to electronic jamming.
Yuriy Ihnat, communications head for Ukraine’s air force, described the overnight offensive to the Associated Press as “the most massive air strike” the country has experienced, considering the combined use of drones and various types of missiles.
The strikes targeted various regions across Ukraine, reaching as far as the western part of the country, away from the primary conflict zone.
In response, Poland and its allies activated their aircraft to safeguard Polish airspace, as confirmed by the Polish air force on Sunday.
Kherson’s regional governor, Oleksandr Prokudin, reported a fatality resulting from a drone strike. Kharkiv’s governor, Oleh Syniehubov, also stated that another person was killed when a drone struck a car in the Kharkiv region.
According to regional governor Ihor Taburets, six individuals, including a child, sustained injuries in Cherkasy.
In the far western Lviv region, a drone attack ignited a fire at an industrial facility in Drohobych, also causing power outages in parts of the city.
Ukraine’s air force also reported that one of the F-16 fighter jets provided by Western partners crashed after being damaged while intercepting air targets. The pilot was killed in the crash.
Despite Russian President Vladimir Putin’s statement on Friday expressing Moscow’s readiness for renewed direct peace negotiations in Istanbul, the conflict shows no signs of de-escalation. US-led international peace efforts have yet to yield significant progress.
Two previous rounds of talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul were brief and failed to produce any settlement.
Long-range drone strikes have become a significant characteristic of the war, which is now in its fourth year.
The ongoing efforts by both sides to develop increasingly advanced and lethal drones have transformed the conflict into a testing arena for novel weaponry.
