A Russian drone barrage has targeted the centre of Kharkiv, injuring nine people and damaging a maternity hospital in Ukraine’s second-largest city.
Mothers with newborns were being evacuated to a different medical facility, Kharkiv mayor Ihor Terekhov wrote on Telegram.
Russia’s recent escalation of long-range Shahed drone attacks on Ukrainian cities, which often also include ballistic and cruise missiles as well as powerful glide bombs, has brought renewed urgency to efforts to improve Ukraine’s air defences after more than three years of war.
“There is no silence in Ukraine,” Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said after the Kharkiv bombardment.
Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, has endured repeated and intensifying drone attacks in recent weeks, as have many other regions of the country.
June brought the highest monthly civilian casualties of the past three years, with 232 people killed and 1,343 wounded, the UN human rights mission in Ukraine said on Thursday.
Russia launched 10 times more drones and missiles in June than in the same month last year, it said.
At the same time, Russia’s bigger army is pressing hard on parts of the 620-mile front line, where thousands of soldiers on both sides have died since the Kremlin ordered the invasion of neighbouring Ukraine in February 2022.
Mr Zelensky urged Ukraine’s Western partners to quickly enact pledges of help they made at an international meeting in Rome on Thursday.
Ukraine desperately needs more US-made Patriot air defence systems to stop Russian missiles and more interceptor drones to bring down the Russian-made Shaheds, he said.
Russia reportedly has expedited drone production, and Mr Zelensky said Moscow plans to manufacture up to 1,000 drones a day.
Mr Zelensky said on Thursday that talks with US President Donald Trump have been “very constructive” even though the administration has given conflicting signals about its readiness to provide more vital military aid.
Mr Zelensky said he is minded to replace his ambassador to the US, Oksana Markarova, with defence minister Rustem Umerov.
Ukraine has asked foreign countries to supply it with another 10 Patriot systems and missiles, Mr Zelensky said. Germany is ready to buy two systems and Norway has agreed to buy one, which will be passed on to Ukraine, he said.
Mr Trump said late on Thursday that the US is sending weapons to other Nato countries, which are paying Washington for them and giving them to Ukraine.
He said he would make “a major statement” on Russia on Monday.
A new bipartisan US sanctions package that aims to force Russia to the negotiating table could go to a vote in the Senate before the August recess, its backers Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal told The Associated Press on Thursday.
The bill calls for a 500% tariff on goods from countries that continue to buy Russian oil, gas, uranium and other exports. It takes aim at nations such as China and India, which account for roughly 70% of Russia’s energy trade and bankroll much of its war effort.
After repeated Russian drone and missile onslaughts in Kyiv, authorities announced on Friday they are establishing a comprehensive drone interception system under a project called Clear Sky.
The project includes a major investment in interceptor drones, operator training, and new mobile response units, according to the head of the Kyiv Military Administration, Tymur Tkachenko.
Mr Zelensky appealed to foreign partners to help Ukraine accelerate the production of the newly developed interceptor drones, which have proved successful against Shaheds.
“We found a solution, as a country, scientists and engineers found a solution. That’s the key,” he said. “We need financing. And then, we will intercept.”
