Kyiv launched one of its most significant drone assaults on Russia since the onset of the full-scale war, targeting power plants and an oil refinery overnight, while Moscow’s forces continued their advance towards a strategic town in eastern Ukraine, officials reported on Sunday.
Ukraine also noted Russian shelling near their shared border, including a missile attack on a grain convoy that killed a truck driver and another strike in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, which injured at least 28 people.
The conflict is at a crucial point in its two-and-a-half-year duration, with Russia pushing an offensive in eastern Ukraine while attempting to repel Ukrainian forces that breached its western border during a surprise incursion on August 6.
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Last week, Russia launched its most intense airstrikes of the war, targeting Ukrainian energy facilities in a series of drone and missile barrages that have resulted in thousands of civilian and military casualties since the conflict began in February 2022.
In response, Ukraine, with its rapidly growing domestic drone industry, has increased attacks on Russian energy, military, and transportation infrastructure. Ukraine is also urging the United States and other allies to authorize the use of more powerful Western-supplied weapons to inflict greater damage within Russia and undermine Moscow’s ability to strike Ukraine.
Russian officials reported that air defense units had intercepted 158 drones launched by Ukraine overnight, with debris causing fires at the Moscow Oil Refinery and the Konakovo Power Station in the Tver region. Temporary restrictions at Moscow’s Vnukovo, Domodedovo, and Zhukovsky airports were lifted on Sunday morning, according to aviation regulator Rosaviatsia.
Reuters could not independently verify the reported drone attacks on Russia or the battlefield situation in Ukraine, and Kyiv has not yet commented. Russia rarely discloses the full extent of the damage caused by Ukrainian air attacks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Russia had used 160 missiles, 780 guided aerial bombs, and 400 attack drones against Ukrainian cities and troops last week alone. He reiterated his call for permission to use Western-supplied weapons to strike deep inside Russia.
“To fully defend and secure our cities from this aggression, more support is needed for a just Ukrainian response,” Zelenskyy stated on Telegram on Sunday.
Zelenskyy also called for “a decision on long-range strikes on missile launch sites in Russia, the destruction of Russian military logistics, and joint efforts to shoot down missiles and drones.”
Senior Ukrainian officials were in Washington last week to further press their case. Kyiv’s allies remain cautious about how Russian President Vladimir Putin might react if their weapons are used against targets deep within Russian territory.
These appeals come as Russia accelerates its advance towards the eastern Ukrainian town of Pokrovsk, a crucial military hub and transportation link to other towns and cities further north.
Ukraine had hoped that its surprise incursion into Russia’s Kursk region last month would force Russia to redeploy troops and relieve pressure on besieged forces in the east. However, this strategy has not yet achieved the desired outcome.
Russia’s defense ministry announced on Sunday that its forces had captured two more settlements in the Donetsk region, including Ptyche, located 21 km (13 miles) southeast of Pokrovsk, and were “continuing to advance deep into enemy defenses.” Russian forces also seized the settlement of Vyimka.
Ukraine’s top commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, described the situation as “difficult” around Russia’s main line of attack in eastern Ukraine but assured that all necessary decisions were being made.
In Kharkiv, Mayor Ihor Terekhov reported that 28 people had been injured in a Russian air attack. Regional governor Oleh Syniehubov noted that the injured included a six-year-old child and two medics.
