Ukraine Says Russia Launched Biggest Air Assault of the War
Russia launched 499 drones and missiles overnight, Ukraine said on Monday, the largest air assault of the war as Moscow intensifies attacks and peace talks stall.
Russia has been stepping up attacks in recent months, an effort that appears to have escalated further after Ukraine mounted a large-scale, coordinated assault on Russian air bases on June 7. In the days since, Russia mounted one of the biggest aerial assaults of the war — which Moscow described as retaliation for the surprise Ukrainian strikes on its bombers.
On Monday, the Ukrainian Air Force said that Russia had launched 479 drones and 20 missiles overnight — the largest number of drones recorded since the war began more than three years ago. Most were intercepted, but 10 strikes were recorded, according to the air force.
One person was killed in the Rivne region of western Ukraine and a Russian strike damaged a private home in the Kyiv region, according to the local authorities. Officials in the Sumy region said that nine people had been injured over the past day. There were no other immediate reports of further damage or casualties.
Amid the intensified bombardment, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine urged civilians to pay attention to air-raid warnings.
'Please take care of yourselves,' he said in his overnight address. 'Take care of yourselves and Ukraine.'
As Russia has escalated aerial attacks, it also has been stepping up frontline attacks and has opened a new front in northern Ukraine.
But Ukraine has continued to try to take the war to Russia, including with the attack on Russian air bases and with further drone strikes deep inside the country.
The Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday that its air defenses had destroyed or jammed 49 Ukrainian drones overnight. Rosaviatsia, Russia's aviation regulator, reported that four airports in the center of the country had temporarily suspended operations overnight because of security concerns.
Ivan Nechepurenko and Anastasia Kuznietsova contributed reporting.
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