Russia and Ukraine exchanged strikes overnight that killed civilians and injured many others on both sides, local authorities reported.
Large-scale Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian cities have become almost routine in recent weeks, with Moscow exploiting Ukraine’s critical shortage of interceptors for the US-made Patriot systems — the sole air defence weapon in its arsenal able to shoot down ballistic missiles.
In the latest attacks, Ukrainian drones killed five people and injured two dozen others, including a four-year-old boy, in Russia’s border region of Belgorod, according to the regional administration.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says four people were killed in the Kyiv capital region, a three-year-old boy and his grandparents, in one strike, and later another fatality was reported in a separate strike, also on civilian infrastructure.
“More pressure is needed — new sanctions that will prevent Russia from producing these ballistic missiles. And our people absolutely need more protection. Anti-ballistic systems, interceptor missiles for Patriot, SAMP/T, NASAMS, and HAWK systems, as well as our F-16s,” wrote Zelenskyy in a post on the Telegram messaging app.
