Russia launches massive overnight strikes on Ukraine, 12 injured

MOSCOW: At least 12 people were injured in Russian strikes targeting Ukraine overnight Saturday into Sunday, according to local officials, prompting Kyiv to renew calls for new air defense systems.

Since its invasion in February 2022, Russia has launched nighttime bombing raids on Ukrainian towns and cities, sending barrages of drones and missiles against military and civilian targets.

Talks to end the war have stalled, with Kyiv accusing Moscow of seeking to prolong the war.

The Russian military fired 477 drones and 60 missiles of various types overnight, according to the Ukrainian Air Force, which said it intercepted 475 drones and 39 missiles.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the attacks showed that Russian President Vladimir Putin “decided long ago to continue the war, despite calls for world peace.”

He reiterated his readiness to “buy” the US-made Patriot anti-missile system.

“Ukraine needs to strengthen its air defenses — the thing that best protects lives,” Zelensky said.

US President Donald Trump, who has been pushing for rapprochement with Moscow since taking office, did not respond to Kyiv’s request.

A total of 11 people, including two children, were injured in Russian strikes in the central Cherkasy region, regional governor Igor Taborets said on Telegram.

Far from the front line in the western Ivano-Frankivsk region, a woman was wounded in the strikes and “taken to hospital,” according to regional governor Svetlana Onishchuk.

In addition to the civilian casualties, a fighter pilot was killed overnight after his F-16 jet was damaged, “not having time to eject,” according to an air force statement.

Zelensky said the pilot was trying to shoot down a Russian projectile before his death.

Early Sunday morning, a Russian drone strike killed a 60-year-old man when it hit his car in the northwestern Kharkiv region, where Russian troops are on the march, according to officials.

For its part, the Russian military said it had captured new territory in the eastern Donetsk region, and that its overnight strike hit Ukrainian military-industrial complex sites as well as oil refineries.

It also said it had intercepted three Ukrainian drones overnight.

Also on Sunday, Russia’s spy chief Sergei Naryshkin said he had spoken by phone with CIA chief John Ratcliffe.

“We agreed to call each other at any time to discuss issues of mutual interest,” Naryshkin said, without giving details of the conversation.