KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine faced its most extensive aerial attack by Russia overnight, as stated by a Ukrainian official on Sunday. This attack is part of an intensifying bombing campaign that has further diminished hopes for progress in resolving the 3-year-old conflict.
Russia deployed 537 aerial weapons against Ukraine, which included 477 drones and decoys alongside 60 missiles, according to Ukraine’s air force. Of these, 249 were successfully intercepted and another 226 were likely jammed electronically and lost.
Described as “the most massive airstrike” against the country since Russia’s full-blown invasion in February 2022, the attack featured various types of drones and missiles, informed Yuriy Ihnat, communications head for Ukraine’s air force. These strikes targeted multiple regions, extending to western Ukraine, areas far removed from the front lines.
On the offensive, Poland and its allies dispatched aircraft to secure Polish airspace, informed the nation’s air force.
The governors of Kherson, Kharkiv, and Dnipropetrovsk regions reported that three individuals were killed in each area due to drone strikes. Another fatality was reported in Kostyantynivka from an airstrike, as reported by local officials. Additionally, a man lost his life when Russian forces shelled the city of Kherson. A 70-year-old woman was also found deceased under the remnants of a nine-story building in the Zaporizhzhia region, hit by Russian shelling.
In the farthest reaches of the western region, in the Lviv area, a drone attack triggered a significant blaze at an industrial facility in Drohobych city, which also disrupted electricity in certain city portions.
Ukraine’s air force disclosed that an F-16 fighter jet provided by its Western allies succumbed to damage after taking down air threats, resulting in the pilot’s death.
Russia has been honing its drone technology and tactics, striking Ukraine with rising success.
Simultaneously, Russia’s Defense Ministry stated that it shot down three Ukrainian drones during the night.
In the western Russian city of Bryansk, two people were wounded in another Ukrainian drone attack, stated regional Governor Alexander Bogomaz. He further mentioned that seven additional Ukrainian drones were intercepted over the region.
In the Donetsk region, Russia alleged on Sunday that it had captured the village of Novoukrainka, which is under partial Russian occupation.
Despite Russian forces gradually making progress along the approximately 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, their incremental advances have come at a high cost in terms of troop losses and damaged military equipment.
In other developments, Russia’s foreign intelligence head, Sergei Naryshkin, confirmed having a telephone conversation with CIA Director John Ratcliffe, his U.S. counterpart.
“I had a phone conversation with my American counterpart, and we left open the possibility to call each other at any time to discuss issues of interest,” Naryshkin remarked in comments to a state TV reporter, Pavel Zarubin, who shared them on Telegram on Sunday.
These attacks followed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent declaration that Moscow remains open to fresh peace talks in Istanbul. However, two recent negotiation rounds between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul were brief and unfruitful.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a decree to withdraw Ukraine from the Ottawa Convention on anti-personnel land mines, as confirmed by a Ukrainian lawmaker on Sunday. This decision follows similar steps taken by the Baltic States and Poland.
The 1997 Ottawa treaty, which aims to protect civilians by banning the use, production, stockpiling, and transfer of anti-personnel land mines, was criticized by Roman Kostenko, secretary of Ukraine’s parliamentary committee on national security, defense, and intelligence. He stated, “This step is overdue given the realities of war,” pointing out that Russia is not part of the convention, “and is widely using mines against our military and civilians.”