Russian strikes targeting Ukraine overnight Saturday to Sunday wounded at least 12 people, according to local authorities, prompting Kyiv to renew calls for new air defense systems.
Since its invasion in February 2022 Russia has launched near-nightly bombardments of Ukrainian towns and cities, sending barrages of drones and missiles against military and civilian targets.
Talks on ending the war have stalled, with Kyiv accusing Moscow of wanting the war to drag on.
Overnight the Russian army launched 477 drones and 60 missiles of various types, according to the Ukrainian air force, which said it had intercepted 475 of the drones and 39 missiles.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the strikes showed that Russian President Vladimir Putin "long ago decided he would keep waging war, despite the world's calls for peace."
He repeated his readiness "to buy" US-made Patriot anti-missile systems.
"Ukraine needs to strengthen its air defense, the thing that best protects lives," Zelensky said.
US President Donald Trump, who has been pushing for a rapprochement with Moscow since retaking office, has not responded to Kyiv's request.
In the central Cherkasy region, the Russian strikes wounded a total of 11 people, including two children, regional governor Igor Taburets said on Telegram.
Far from the front line in the western Ivano-Frankivsk region, the strikes wounded a woman who was "taken to hospital," according to regional governor Svitlana Onyshchuk.
Besides the civilian casualties, a fighter pilot was killed overnight after his F-16 jet was damaged "without him having the time to eject," according to an air force statement.
Zelensky said the pilot was trying to shoot down Russian projectiles before his death.
Early Sunday morning, a Russian drone attack killed a 60-year-old man when it hit his car in the northwest Kharkiv region, where the Russian army is on the march, according to the authorities.
For its part, the Russian army said that it had captured new territory in the eastern Donetsk region and that its overnight attack hit Ukrainian military-industrial complex sites as well as oil refineries.
It also said it intercepted three Ukrainian drones overnight.
Also on Sunday, Russia's spy chief Sergei Naryshkin said he had a call with CIA chief John Ratcliffe.
"We agreed to call each other at any time to discuss issues of mutual interest," Naryshkin said, without specifying details about the discussion.
AFP
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