Russia launches largest drone attack of war on Ukraine

Russia launched the largest single drone attack on Ukraine on Saturday night, officials have said.

Ukraine's Air Force Command spokesman Yuriy Ignat, said a "record" 267 Russian drones were launched in a single, coordinated attack. Some 138 were intercepted while 119 disappeared after being jammed without causing any damage.

While many were repelled, emergency services reported drone strikes causing destruction and fires in several regions overnight.

The strikes come on the eve of the third anniversary of the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said it was the largest drone attack on the country since Russia began using Iranian-made drones.

He said in a statement that this week Russia had launched nearly 1,150 attack drones, more than 1,400 guided aerial bombs and 35 missiles of various types at Ukraine.

"We must do everything possible to bring a lasting and just peace to Ukraine," Zelensky wrote.

"This is achievable through the unity of all partners - we need the strength of all of Europe, the strength of America, the strength of everyone who seeks lasting peace."

According to the Ukrainian government and western intelligence, Russia has been using Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones - also known as "kamikaze" drones - since the autumn of 2022.

The drones were reported to have been used initially to attack military targets in the Kharkiv region, but have since been used to target population centres and energy infrastructure.

Iran has previously said it only supplied a "small number" of drones to Russia before the war, but the US and EU have accused Iran of sending regular deliveries of drones to Russia.

It is not clear how many people have died during Saturday's drone strike, but initial figures from emergency services suggest there were at least three casualties.

Two people died in a strike on a residential building in Kherson, in southern Ukraine - a man and a mother of twins, the Ukrainian state emergency services said.

Regional authorities also confirmed that one man died and at least three were wounded following a strike on the central city of Kryvyi Rih.

Meanwhile, a 53-year-old woman was hospitalised after being injured in a drone attack in Zaporizhzhia, and firefighters were called to extinguish multiple fires in the capital, Kyiv.

Kyiv's Mayor Vitali Kltischko wrote on Telegram that the multi-wave drone attacks on the capital had damaged several houses and cars but there were no immediate reports of injuries.

Drones were intercepted in at least 13 regions including Kharkiv, Poltava, Sumy, Kyiv, Chernihiv, Mykolayiv and Odesa, according to Ukrainian authorities.

The Ukrainian air force also reported that Russia launched three ballistic missiles overnight.

Meanwhile, Russia's defence ministry said on Sunday that 20 Ukrainian drones launched into Russia were "destroyed" overnight.

On Monday, the war will enter its third year.

As it does, diplomatic wranglings over a potential peace deal continue, with Ukraine, European allies and the US offering differing visions for how to end the conflict.

The US and Russia held preliminary talks in Saudi Arabia this week - without delegates from Europe, including Ukraine, present - which resulted in European leaders holding a hastily-arranged summit in Paris.

Zelensky criticised Ukraine's exclusion from the US-Russia talks, saying US President Donald Trump was "living in a disinformation space" governed by Moscow, prompting Trump to respond by calling the Ukrainian president a "dictator".

French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to visit Washington on Monday, while UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will be there on Thursday.

Sir Keir has publicly backed Zelensky, reiterating the UK's "ironclad support" for Kyiv, and said he would discuss the importance of Ukraine's sovereignty when he speaks to Trump.

Pope Francis - who is in hospital with respiratory illness - wrote in a remarks released on Sunday that the third anniversary of the war was "a painful and shameful occasion for the whole of humanity".

Source: BBC