KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched 122 missiles and 36 drones in opposition to Ukrainian targets, officers stated Friday, killing at the least 13 civilians in what an air drive official stated was the most important aerial barrage of the 22-month conflict.
The Ukrainian air drive intercepted 87 of the missiles and 27 of the Shahed-type drones in a single day, Ukraine’s army chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi stated.
Air Pressure commander Mykola Oleshchuk wrote on his official Telegram channel: “Essentially the most large aerial assault” since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
In response to the Ukrainian air drive, the earlier largest assault was in November 2022 when Russia launched 96 missiles in opposition to Ukraine. This yr, the most important was 81 missiles on March 9, air drive information present.
Combating alongside the entrance line is essentially slowed down by winter climate after Ukraine’s summer season counteroffensive didn’t make a big breakthrough alongside the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) line of contact.
Ukrainian officers have urged the nation’s Western allies to offer it with extra air defenses to guard itself in opposition to aerial assaults like Friday’s one. Their appeals have come as indicators of conflict fatigue pressure efforts to maintain assist in place.
Scores of individuals had been injured and an unknown quantity had been buried underneath rubble throughout the roughly 18-hour onslaught, Ukrainian officers stated. Among the many buildings reported to be broken throughout Ukraine had been a maternity hospital, condo blocks and faculties.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated the Kremlin’s forces used all kinds of weapons, together with ballistic and cruise missiles.
“At present, Russia used almost each kind of weapon in its arsenal,” Zelenskyy stated on social media platform X, previously Twitter.
Ukrainian Air Pressure spokesman Yurii Ihnat stated Russia “apparently launched all the things they’ve,” aside from submarine-launched Kalibr missiles, within the assault.
The aerial assault that started Thursday and continued via the evening hit six cities, together with the capital, Kyiv, and different areas from east to west and north to south Ukraine, in keeping with authorities.
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Comply with AP’s protection of the conflict in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine