Zelenskyy accuses Russia of ‘assault on humanity' after latest drone barrage
Ukraine's president said Moscow had launched more than 420 drones and more than 20 missiles in its latest overnight attack, killing at least two people and targeting a metro station in the capital where people were sheltering.
Germany's defence minister, Boris Pistorius, said Berlin was prepared to pay the US for the fastest possible delivery of five Patriot air-defence systems to Ukraine, though it remains unclear how soon this could be achieved.
Media reports suggested Germany would transfer two systems from its own arsenal of nine urgently and buy replacements from the US, with details about the transfer of the other three to be worked out.
The announcement was made after a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group of 50 western allies, which is jointly chaired by Germany and the UK. Britain said it would spend £700m on air defence and artillery ammunition for Ukraine this year.
Pistorius said he had agreed with his US counterpart, Pete Hegseth, that 'Germany will contribute to providing the five urgently needed Patriot systems as quickly as possible. How we can achieve that is something we will coordinate closely and in a spirit of mutual trust among partners within the next few days'.
In recent months the Kremlin has dramatically escalated its aerial campaign against Ukraine, sending record numbers of drones. Data from Ukraine's air force, first reported by the Financial Times, suggests Russia's swarm tactics are increasingly effective, demonstrating an urgent need for Kyiv to boost its own defences.
Between April and June about 15% of Russia's drones reached their targets, compared with 5% in the previous three months, and the scale of attacks has increased. Moscow launched 728 drones at Ukraine earlier this month, a record number, though it is expected that the size of an overnight attack could top 1,000 and even reach 2,000 by November, according to the Institute for the Study of War.
Hundreds of people were sheltering in Lukianivska metro station when a drone exploded next to it on Monday. Russia has repeatedly targeted the district, which was bombarded along with three others in the capital.
Smoke engulfed the station. Video footage showed people standing on an underground platform filled with swirling dust. One woman could be heard sobbing.
'The station's entrance was damaged as a result of the attack,' said Tymur Tkachenko, the head of Kyiv's military administration, adding that shops, businesses and a kindergarten had also been hit.
Max, a 32-year-old resident, said: 'My friend ran to the underground. He called me during the night and said he heard the strike. Part of the building and even the roof tumbled down the escalator. There was smoke billowing on the platform.
'If you walk around here it's like hell on earth. During the day it's OK. When the night starts, it's always really hard. This is at least the fifth time Lukianivska has been bombarded. Windows are blown out. If smoke can now reach underground, where do we hide?'
France's foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, held talks with Zelenskyy on Monday in Kyiv and visited the damaged station. 'Shelters themselves are no longer entirely safe, as the metro station next to me, which serves as a shelter for Kyiv residents, became a target of the attack,' he said.
Barrot said French embassy staff had spent two hours hiding during the intense attack. He called for pressure to be increased on Russia and said France would allocate an additional €200m (£170m) next year to support Ukraine's critical infrastructure and economy.
A swarm of drones could be heard buzzing above the city soon after 2am. There were multiple explosions and loud booms as Ukrainian air defence batteries tried to bring them down. The raid ended about three hours later.
The western city of Ivano-Frankivsk – hundreds of miles from the frontline – was also badly hit. Its mayor, Ruslan Martsinkiv, said it was the biggest attack since the start of Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion in 2022, with several people in surrounding villages hurt. Explosions were also reported in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city.
Zelenskyy said Russia and Ukraine would hold new peace talks this week. He said in his daily address: 'Today, I discussed with [Ukraine's defence minister] Rustem Umerov the preparations for the exchange and another meeting in Turkey with the Russian side. Umerov reported that the meeting is scheduled for Wednesday. More details will be available tomorrow.'
So far two rounds of talks in Istanbul have failed to result in any progress towards a ceasefire, although they have yielded large-scale prisoner exchanges and deals to return the bodies of soldiers killed in the war.
The Kremlin said this month it was ready to continue negotiations with Ukraine after the US president, Donald Trump, gave Russia 50 days to strike a peace deal or face sanctions. There is no indication that Putin has changed his maximalist demands, however.
The Russian president's spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said on Sunday that reaching a deal was 'not simple' and that Moscow's 'objectives' had to be fulfilled. They include seizing further Ukrainian territory and replacing Zelenskyy and his pro-western government.
The EU on Friday agreed an 18th package of sanctions on Moscow that targeted Russian banks and lowered a price cap on oil exports, in an attempt to curb its ability to fund the war.
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