Ukrainian military reports heaviest Russian drone attacks to date
Ukraine said on Monday that Russia had attacked the country with a record number of drones overnight.
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Moscow deployed 355 drones and drone dummies as well as nine X-101 cruise missiles. An air raid alert covered the whole country.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described it as "the largest number of drones against our cities and communities since the beginning of the full-scale war" over three years ago.
The "third consecutive night of combined Russian terror ... Putin shows just how much he despises the world — the world that spends more effort on 'dialogue' with him than on real pressure," he wrote on X. "The increase in Russian strikes should be met with increased sanctions," he added.
The military's figures cannot be verified in detail. All nine cruise missiles were shot down and 288 drones were destroyed, the air force said.
Two people were injured in the Zaporizhzhya region, according to the local military governor Ivan Fedorov.
According to the air force, Russian drones attacked the port city of Odessa from the Black Sea.
In the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, military governor Oleh Syniehubov said on Telegram that a series of powerful explosions were heard.
Authorities elsewhere confirmed damage had been caused in several other parts of the country. It was widely reported that one target was the Starokostiantyniv military airbase in western Ukraine.
The Russian Defence Ministry wrote on Telegram that it had shot down 128 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory by late Monday morning.
Operations at several airports in Russia were temporarily restricted for security reasons.
Moscow launched a massive attack on its neighbour over the weekend using drones, missiles and cruise missiles, killing more than a dozen people.
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