Russian forces launched a massive drone attack against Ukraine on Wednesday, with targets including Kryvyi Rih, the hometown of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The attack appeared to be a violent repudiation of President Donald Trump’s demand for Russia to make peace within 50 days or face heavy new sanctions.
The Ukrainian air force said Russia’s attack involved at least 400 drones, plus a single Iskander ballistic missile launched from Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula illegally annexed by Russia in 2014.
Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Russia, on Tuesday, August 6, 2024. (Gavriil Grigirov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
The Ukrainians said they were able to intercept most of the drones, but 57 of them got through, along with the Iskander missile.
Kryvyi Rih Mayor Oleksandr Vilkul said it was the heaviest attack his town has suffered since the Russian invasion began in 2022.
“This has never happened before. A ballistic missile and 28 Shahed drones simultaneously,” he said. Shahed is the name of Iran’s kamikaze drone. Russia imported huge numbers of Iranian drones early in the conflict, and later began producing its own Shaheds.
At least 15 people were injured during Russia’s drone swarm attacks on civilian areas and energy infrastructure, with one reported fatality in the city of Dobropilia. Mayor Vilklul said one of the victims was a 17-year-old boy who was left fighting for his life in a hospital.
Russian drones also hit Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, plus Vinnytsia in the west and Odesa in the south.
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“Russia does not change its strategy. To effectively counter this terror, we need a systemic strengthening of defense: more air defense, more interceptors, and more resolve so that Russia feels our response,” Zelensky said on Wednesday.
President Donald Trump said on Monday that Russia would face “very severe tariffs” if it does not agree to a peace deal within 50 days. The sanctions package will reportedly include secondary tariffs that heavily penalize countries that import oil and other products from Russia, such as India and China.
“We’re very, very unhappy with them,” Trump said of the Russians.
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